FT 

MEADE 

4HE 
1368 
Copy 1 


THE 


••'Is 


^BStAircoisae, 
MAY 8 1911 


MOBILE 


AND 


NORTH-WESTERN RAILROAD. 


PROJECT. 


»*b-gnk: 

S. W. GREEN, PRINTER, 16 AND 18 JACOB STREET. 




1871. 


'tf-- /-/E 

/3G& 

' t •* * * jc. ■ r * r r 

TABLE OF COFTTEFTTS. 

»+« 

TAGE 

Personnel of Mobile and North-Western Railroad Company 3 

Report of W. D. Mann 5 

Report of Henry Van Vleck, Cbief-Engineer 11 

APPENDIX. 

Charter of the Company by State of Mississippi 20 

Act of Alabama confirming Charter and consolidating Corporations 28 

Act of Alabama Legislature authorizing Issue of Mobile Bonds 29 

Ordinance of City of Mobile granting One Million Dollars Aid 29 

Act of Mississippi Legislature granting Lands 32 

Secretary of State’s Certificate of Quantity of Lands 33 

Letter from Commissioner of General Land-Office 33 

Opinion of Hon. William Yerger 34 

Auditor of State’s Certificate of Amount of Tax-Lands 35 

Memorial of Mississippi Legislature urging Congressional Land-Grant.. . 3G 
Memorial of Mobile Board of Trade urging Congressional Land-Grant. .. 37 

General Railroad Aid Act granting $4000 per Mile 37 

Report of Committee of Mobile City Government 39 

Report of Auditor of Mobile on City Finances 42 

General Humphreys’ Report on Yazoo Basin 

Map j 


dtiobilc anb dlortb-2|festcrn Bailroab (L ompant). 


piRECTORS FOR IS 7t. 

THOMAS HENRY, Mobile. 

ISAAC GOLDSMITH, 

JOHN H. GARNER, 

LEROY BREWER, 

LEWIS TROOST, 

L. SCRANTON, 

THOMAS W. SIMS, 

GUSTAYUS HORTON, 

W. D. MANN, “ 

MARSHALL O. ROBERTS, New-York. 
CORNELIUS II. DELAMATER, New-York. 
A. M. WEST, Mississippi. 

ROBERT LOWRY, “ 


pFFICERS. 

THOMAS HENRY, President. JOHN H. GARNER, Treasurer. 

W. D. MANN, Vice-President. WALTER BURGESS, Secretary. 

HENRY VAN VLECK, Chief -Engineer. 


pXECUTIYE p 


OMMITTEE. 


W. D. MANN, Chairman. 
JOHN H. GARNER, 


L. SCRANTON, 

THE PRESIDENT, {ex-officio.) 





By request of tlie Board of Directors of t-lie Mobile and North western 
Railroad Company, Colonel W. D. Mann, the originator of the enterprise, has 
prepared a report upon the project in detail, which, together with the accom- 
panying documents — report of the Chief-Engineer, map of the route and 
connections, copy of the charter of the company, and various legislative acts 
and ordinances relating to the company, and miscellaneous memoranda — is 
published for the benefit of those interested in the subject. Particular atten- 
tion is invited to the very carefully prepared map of the line, with the con- 
nections, the accuracy of which is guaranteed by the well-known publishers 
G. W. & C. B. Colton & Co. ; and to the report of General A. A. Humphreys, 
Chief-Engineer U. S. Army, showing the great wealth and resources, and 
the practicability of leveeing effectually the Yazoo basin, or Mississippi 
bottom, the whole length of which is bisected by the proposed road. (Ap- 
pendix D.) 


THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 


PROJECT 


REPORT OF COLONEL W. D. MANN. 

To the President and Board of Directors of the Mobile and North-western 
Railroad Company : 

Gentlemen : In response to your request tliat I should prepare a re- 
port on tlie project you liave in hand, a great railroad to the North-west, 
for the information of parties who may be or may become interested in the 
work, I have the honor to respectfully submit a brief outline of the subject, 
though with the sense that, forced to curtail to a length that should not 
weary the reader, I shall do but half justice to an undertaking which, in im- 
portance of promised results, is second to but few, if any, of the great works 
of internal improvement of this continent. 


THEORY, ORIGIN, AND OBJECTS OF THE FROJECT, 

Tendency of the products of any country toward their market is a law of 
commerce, and hence those lines of transportation which, heeding this, are 
laid from the producing regions, in the most direct and natural course toward 
the market of the products, have been, and must ever be, great pecuniary suc- 
cesses. As the market of the surplus productions of the' great West is Eu- 
rope, east, the lines of railway from we3t to east, in the immense proportion 
to which they have grown, are notable examples of the truth of this theory. 
A few lines running north and south have proven highly prosperous under- 
takings — as, for remarkable instance, the Illinois Central Railway — but this, in 
truth, is a line leading directly toward the market, in this, that it takes the 
vast crops of the broad prairies of that State to water transportation, on which 
they take their easterly course. The market of the great staple of the South 
is Liverpool, and lines which most directly and economically unite its fields 
with that market must be profitable in their development. In this theory 
the Mobile and North-western Railroad project had its origin in my mind. 
The vast, incomparably rich fields of Western Mississippi, Nortli-Louisiana, 
Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri, capable of producing cotton for the whole 
world, demand more direct outlet toward Liverpool. Mobile, though not in 
the direct line, yet offers by far the nearest and most direct line of transit, 
from its nearness to the producing region shortening the rail transportation, 
and from the excellence of its harbor as a port for the great ships engaged 
in the cotton traffic. To all the region named, Mobile is the nearest seaport. 


6 


A railway with its branches and connections joining all sections of that re- 
gion to tliis'seaport, must prove an immense pecuniary success. How thorough- 
ly the proposed enterprise accomplishes this, will be seen on recitation of the 
routes of the main trunk road and its principal branches, together with the 
ultimate connections. Glancing at the map, it is seen that a main trunk 
road is proposed from Mobile north-westerly on almost an air-line to Jackson, 
a point on the New-Orleans and Great Northern road which is here intersect- 
ed and tapped. It also here intersects the road leading due west to Marshall, 
Texas, the eastern terminus of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The vast trade 
of this line is thus tapped and drawn over our trunk-line to Mobile and the sea. 
From Jackson it takes an almost due north course to Helena, Ark., where we 
connect with a railroad now rapidly building due north to its junction 
with the St. Louis and Iron Mountain road, now constructed and operated 
to near the Missouri south line. Thus the chief city of the North-west, St. 
Louis, and all its numerous lines of railways diverging to every quarter of 
the North and West, is brought into direct connection with its natural sea. 
port, Mobile. Again, from Helena a road is projected and in process of con- 
struction to Kansas City, due north-west, in the centre of the Missouri River 
valley. Also, is a road from Helena to Little Rock far advanced toward com- 
pletion. Returning, we find an important branch extending on up the Yazoo 
delta or basin to the thriving city of Memphis, and there connecting with 
several roads northward. Further down at Yazoo City, a western division of 
our road bisects the western portion of the Yazoo basin to Napoleon, Ark., 
and thence over the Little Rock and Pine Bluff road, partially completed at 
tliis ( date, connects with the capital of the fertile State of Arkansas, and, further 
on, over the Little Rock and Fort Smith road, with the Indian Territory, 
s ion to be developed into one of the richest producing sections of the country. 
From a point on Bowie Creek, a branch due west joins us, traversing a very 
fertile region, with the city of Natchez, and opening to us, by roads contem- 
plated and soon to be built, the sugar and cotton fields of the Red River and 
Central Louisiana. A branch through the fine counties of Rankin and Madi- 
son opens their trade to our trunk line, and gives a connection directly north, 
and with Louisville over the Mississippi Central road. Taking the entire 
system in view, and a great railroad tree is seen, its branches embracing a 
territory in extent nearly the entire Mississippi Valley, its trunk leading 
down and finding base in a fine seaport, directly in the natural line of the 
commerce of that region with the world. 

But the immediate local traffic which the road promises to have, should 
be considered, for in this business lies largely the secret of railroad profits. 
The local business will be, in addition to the passenger traffic incident to a 
rich and fairly well-peopled region throughout, and the freights from the 
distribution of the articles of general merchandise for local consumption, the 
transportation of lumber, cotton, grain, meats, and live stock, mainly. After 
leaving Mobile fifteen miles, an almost virgin yellow pine forest, perhaps 
unequaled in size of trees and quality, is traversed for a distance of one 
hundred and twenty miles. The value of tliis v timber is well known. The 
demand for it, both for export abroad and in the comparatively timberless re- 
gions of the North-west, is unbounded ; and the supply is practically inex- 
haustible along the line of the road. The carrying of lumber and timber will 


7 


form an important part in tlie road’s traffic for very many years, From this 
timber region we pass directly into the cotton belt, both with the main line 
and all the branches. No finer cotton-growing region is known than all this 
portion of Mississippi ; and the Yazoo basin, traversed by the trunk road and 
western division, has no equal in the richness of its cotton fields. It has 
been reliably estimated that this basin or delta alone, when fully developed, 
could produce more cotton than is now grown in the world. At present, 
with the comparatively light improvement, incident to want of facilities of 
transportation, of the regions we shall traverse with main line and branches, 
there is produced, adjacent to the road, more than a quarter of a million bales 
of cotton, nearly every pound of which will necessarily be moved by this 
road, from the superior facilities it will offer over any other outlet. 

As is well known, because of the greater profit of cotton culture, but com- 
paratively small quantities of grain or meats are produced in all this region ; 
and no work-animals, mules or horses, are grown. Our road, in its connec- 
tions, penetrates the grain and stock-raising fields of the North-west ; and 
immense freights of flour, corn, bacon, pork, horses, and mules to supply this 
region, may be expected from the West southwardly. And here I will 
remark, that by no means do I deem that with the carrying of grain south- 
ward for home consumption will our grain-freights end. For the six months 
of the year directly after the harvest in the West, the water transportation 
to the East is closed, and grains must either be held at cost of interest, storage, 
and insurance, or must be sent forward by rail. The length of this mode of 
transportation to ports of the East from the grain-fields west of the Mississippi 
is more than double the distance to Mobile. With the deepening of the 
channel to the city of Mobile from the lower anchorage, now rapidly pro- 
gressing, so that large ships may come up, I look to see grain elevators 
erected at Mobile ; and this road is destined to transport immense quantities 
of grain in bulk for export. But there are other objects than the transporta- 
tion of the productions of its tributary region to Mobile for export, and the 
local interchange of these productions, which this road has — other sources of 
traffic and revenue. 

The consumption in the Mississippi valley of the staple articles of West- 
Indies and Soutli-American production, coffee, sugar, molasses, and tropi- 
cal fruits, is something immense. Looking again to the map, it is seen that 
Mobile is the natural gateway for the introduction of these products to the 
entire Mississippi valley and the North-west, lying, as it does, in the direct 
and shortest line of transit. With the increased facilities for the distribution 
of these articles, which the ramifications of our proposed road and its connec- 
tions will give, I confidently look to see almost the entire importation of these 
products made via Mobile, largely to be distributed over our road. Already 
this trade is very considerable and rapidly increasing ; witness the article 
of coffee, of which in the commercial year from September 1st to September 
1st, 1866-7, Mobile imported less then 9000 bags, while, during the year just 
closed, she has imported 81,218 bags ; and the increase has been steady annu- 
ally. The sending forward to the North and West of tropical fruits, and the 
fruits and early vegetables of our own latitude, will form no inconsiderable 
item of business for the road. But I have said sufficiently of the prospective 
business of the road to at least direct thought on the subject, which will 


8 


develop still other sources of traffic ; if, indeed, I have not already shown 
enough to demonstrate that the Mobile and North-western Railroad must be 
a profitable enterprise. 

CAN THE PROJECT BE SUCCESSFULLY CARRIED TO COMPLETION ? 

As you are aware, to this date from the inception of the scheme a year ago, 
nothing but remarkable success has greeted it. Its popularity in our city 
and along its entire line has been unexampled. The most liberal legislation 
in both the States of Alabama and Mississippi has been obtained ; elaborate sur. 
veys have been satisfactorily carried forward until they approach completion ; 
and to-day, with most favorable proposals of contracts, we are about to begin 
the actual work of construction. 

A review of the 

FRANCHISES AND GRANTS, (APPENDIX A AND B,) 

which the company possesses, will, perhaps, furnish ground for a favorable 
answer to the question of the successful completion of the project. The char- 
ter is certainly remarkably liberal in its every provision, and especially so in 
the unlimited extent of road contemplated, and the location of the same ; in 
the exemption from taxes of every sort for the long period of thirty years ; in 
the facilities for obtaining right of way ; and in the provisions for local aid, 
both by counties, municipalities, and by individuals. This charter has been 
confirmed, and the corporations existing in both States consolidated by act of 
the Legislature of Alabama. (See Appendix A.) One million dollars in the 
gold or sterling bonds of Mobile, eight per cents, have been duly granted the 
company. (For ordinances and authority for the same, see Appendix B.) For 
the character of these bonds, and the financial condition of the city, see report 
of Joint Committee of City Government, and Auditor’s Report. (Appendix C.) 
The State of Mississippi has passed an act granting all the lands of the State 
technically known as “ swamp lands,” together with certain other lands, to 
this company, at the merely nominal price of two cents per acre, (to comply 
with the constitution, requiring the lands to be sold at some price,) virtually a 
donation. The exact aggregate amount of these lands is unknown ; but it 
will exceed one million of acres, and may reach three or four millions of acres, 
depending upon the action of the General Land Office in reference to allow- 
ing further selection of swamp lands, of which there are several millions of 
acres, and which are all granted us if patented to the State, and upon the 
decision of the Supreme Court upon the question of our right to lands held by 
the State under tax-sales purchase. The first section of the act granting lands 
conveys all State lands within twenty miles of the road on either side. 
Within that belt there are something over one million acres of land held by 
the State, (see auditor’s certificate, Appendix B,) a small fraction of which 
was under an old act, now repealed, “ forfeited” to the State for non-payment 
of taxes ; but the larger parts of these lands are held by regular purchase by 
the State under tax sales. It is claimed by the counsel of the company, 
(see elaborate opinion of the Hon. William Yerger, Appendix B,) that the 
provisions of the act granting us lands, which declares that the same 
shall not be held to cover lands forfeited to the State for taxes, must be held 


9 


to apply only to those few lands “ forfeited ” under the now repealed act 
spoken of ; and that the lands regularly purchased by the State, under tax 
sales, are conveyed to the company. The case will be soon tested in the 
Supreme Court. For full information as to the lands of the company, see act 
of Legislature making grant, and certificate of the Secretary of State of the 
amount already secured. (Appendix B.) Reference is also made to the 
memorial of the Legislature of Mississippi, indorsed by the Mobile Board 
of Trade, (Appendix B,) urging Congress to make grant of lands owned by 
the general government. 

It is confidently believed that this grant will be made, and if so, it will con- 
vey about one and a half millions of acres. The State of Mississippi, by a 
general act, (Appendix B,) appropriates and grants, as a direct bonus, the 
sum of four thousand dollars per mile, in cash, for each mile of road, branches, 
and sidings. This is deemed more liberal aid, being an absolute gift, than 
the indorsement of the road’s bonds for a much larger amount, as is the 
practice of several States. Probably no other road in the State will be able 
to comply with the terms of the act, and hence it is quite equivalent to a 
special act for the benefit of our road. The city of Helena, Arkansas, has 
voted, by a very decided majority, a grant of one hundred thousand dollars, 
being the limit allowed by city charter, to our company. Under the 20tli 
section of our charter, application has been or will be made for aid by the 
counties along the line, aggregating about five and a half millions of dollars. 
Registration of voters is at this date about completed ; the counties have been 
generally canvassed with result of almost unanimous favor to the voting of 
the aid asked, and the elections will all have come off on or before the 7tli of 
November next. It is confidently believed that the full amount of aid asked 
($5,500,000) will be voted. Of the value of this aid by counties there can be 
no question, as the total amount proposed is far less than ten per cent of the 
taxable valuation of property, and the counties uniformly have no prior debt. 
These counties produce more cotton and have greater resources in the aggre- 
gate than any other same number of counties in the State. They are all 
prosperous, rapidly improving, and, from wealth of soil, capable of vast de- 
velopment. In addition to these public resources which the company has, 
there has been realized from private subscriptions at Mobile, and else- 
where, the sum of nearly two hundred thousand dollars. Large private 
solvent subscriptions have been made to the several county committees 
throughout Mississippi, the amount of which is not yet aggregated, as the 
committees have not yet ceased canvassing. These subscriptions will be 
available when work is commenced in the respective counties. The right of 
way has been obtained gratuitously over nearly the entire preliminary lines 
run, and will be in all cases obtained without cost. In many instances, labor 
is volunteered sufficient to clear the roadway through wooded lands. 

From all this we deduce that the company has, in addition to a most libe- 
ral charter, securing absolute exemption from taxation for its entire property, 
including its lands, and to a gratuitous right of way, means as follows : 


Private cash subscriptions $200,000 

Mobile city aid 1,000,000 

Mississippi, $4000 per mile, G20 miles 2,480,000 


10 


Mississippi county subscriptions $5,500,000 

Helena city aid 100,000 

Total $9,280,000 


* To secure which, must be built G20 miles of road, which includes all the 
projected branches as laid down on map. This is an average of nearly 
$15,000 per mile, or more than one half the entire probable cost of the road 
fully equipped. In addition to this, there is the vast grant of lands, the 
cash value of which can scarcely be estimated now, but which, if properly 
managed, may be made to pay off a bonded debt of the road of ten thousand 
dollars per mile. 

If w r e consider only the main line of 350 miles, we have : 


Private subscriptions $200,000 

Mobile city aid 1,000,000 

Mississippi, $4000 per mile 1,400,000 

County and municipal subscriptions 3,350,000 

Helena city aid 100,000 


Total $6,050,000 


which is over $17,000 per mile, and the entire amount of lands are still se- 
cured. All this aid, except the Mississippi county aid, and the Helena aid, 
is cash. One fifth of the county aid will be cash, and the balance twenty- 
year 8 per cent bonds. While perhaps these may not be found readily 
salable, yet the instances in which counties in any of the States have failed 
to pay either interest or principal of tlieir bonds are extremely rare ; and 
half the counties in the United States have at some time or other issued 
bonds in aid of internal improvements. I regard this class of securities 
as excellent ; but if they are not in demand, I would suggest that the entire 
sum be placed in the hands of the trustees of the road’s bonds, and pledged, 
with its accruing interest, to the payment of interest and principal of the 
road’s own bonds. The large amount of interest annually accruing from 
these county bonds would render certain that the interest on the road’s bonds 
w r ould be paid, even though the earnings of the road were light, and thus 
the company would be enabled to obtain a round price for its own bonds. 

The preliminary surveys of the road have now been under progress some 
five months, with four full and thoroughly equipped parties in the field, and 
are well advanced. Portions of the road at either end have been located ; but 
for more full information of the engineering department, as well as for the 
views on the project, of our engineer, Mr. Henry Van Vleck, known to you to 
he an engineer of large and varied experience and unsurpassed professional 
.repute, I respectfully invite your attention to his report herewith submitted. 

Believing, in the space I have allotted myself, I have as faithfully, and with- 
out extravagance, set forth our project as I am able to, I have the honor to be 
very respectfully your obedient servant, 

W. D. Mann, Vice-President. 

Mobile, Sept. 1, 1871. 


11 


REPORT OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, 

Mobile and North-western Railroad, ) 
Engineer’s Office, Jackson, Miss., Sept. 1, 1871. \ 

To the President and Directors of the Mobile and North-western Railroad 

Company : 

Gentlemen : By direction of W. D. Mann, V. P., I herewith submit a 
brief report, containing description and topography of the main line of your 
road, together with statements of approximate amounts of quantities of grad- 
ing, bridging, etc. ; also reference to principal items of traffic, local and 
through, anticipated upon completion of the enterprise. 

You are aware that the surveys are yet in an incomplete state. Prelimi- 
nary surveys only have been made from Mobile to Yazoo City, and about 20 
miles in Coahoma County, at the northern terminus. Profiles and computa- 
tions from Mobile to Pascagoula River, and from near head of Okatoma 
Creek to Yazoo City, have been made. These, however, cover all, or nearly 
all, of the rough ground on the main line ; the balance is in the valley of 
Leaf River and Okatoma Creek, and in the table-lands of Yazoo basin. 

Since assuming the duties of my position, I have been constantly occupied 
in making reconnoissance of country along proposed routes and other engi- 
neering details, and have not collected any statistics with reference to traffic, 
through or local, or of the condition and prospects of the various roads be- 
yond Helena. The statements made are founded upon the information now- 
at hand, and an engineering experience of many years’ duration in such 
matters. I forward it in the belief that it will prove in the end to be sub- 
stantially correct. 

1. LOCATION. 

The line of the Mobile and North-western Railway extends from the city 
of Mobile, in the State of Alabama, to Dowd’s Landing, a point on the east 
bank of the Mississippi River, opposite the city of Helena, Ark. ; with an ex- 
tension line, diverging from main line, at a point about 6 miles easterly from 
Dowd’s, and running up the Yazoo valley to its head, and thence to the city 
of Memphis, a distance of about 58 miles. The main line, between Mobile 
and Dowd’s, will be 340 to 350 miles in length, (as the adoption of route here- 
after may determine.) Branch lines also contemplated : one running from 
Yazoo City in a nortli-w r esterly direction, across the valley or delta, to Upper 
Deer Creek ; thence up this stream and branches — a distance of about 84 
miles — to Prentiss, a point on the east bank of the Mississippi, opposite the 
city of Napoleon, Ark. ; and one diverging from main line on the summit be- 
tween Strong River and Pearl River, in the south part of Rankin County, 
and running northerly through the county and through the city of Brandon, 
a distance of about 36 miles, to the city of Canton. There is also another 
line contemplated, diverging from main line at head of Okatoma Creek, and 
running ivest through the cities of Monticello, Brookliaven, and Hamburg, 
about 110 miles, to the city of Natchez. The line is now graded from Ham- 
burg to Natchez, a distance of 20 miles. 

The route projected for the main line commences at Mobile, and runs in a 
north-westerly direction to and above the junction of Leaf and Chickasawha 


12 


Rivers, (forming tlie Pascagoula River.) Crossing these streams, the route 
continues up Leaf River, the Bowie and Okatoma Creeks, (tributaries of Leaf 
River,) to summit between Okatoma Creek and Strong River ; thence down 
Seller’s Creek to and across Strong River, and up Dobb’s Creek to the summit 
between Strong and Pearl Rivers ; thence down Richland Creek to and across 
Pearl River, in the city of Jackson. At this point the line intersects and 
crosses the New-Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad and the 
Vicksburg and Meridian Railroad. From Jackson, the route follows up Town 
Creek ; thence down Bogue Cliitto to and across the Big Black River, near the 
south-west corner of Madison County ; thence up a small creek to the sum- 
mit between Big Black and Yazoo Rivers ; thence down O’Neal’s Creek to the 
Yazoo valley ; thence up the valley skirting the range of hills to Yazoo City. 
From Yazoo City, the line as projected runs up the valley, along the base of 
the hills, about 10 miles ; thence leaving the hills and running nearly north, 
crossing a deep swamp about two miles wide, to the high lands on Bee Lake ; 
thence along the east bank of Bee Lake about 3 miles in distance ; thence 
along the west shore of Little Horse-slioe Lake, and crossing Little River on 
to Honey Island ; thence, skirting the most western bends of Little River, to 
the crossing of Yazoo River, at the head of Honey Island or Eagle Lake. 
From this point, the line continues up the valley, touching the Yazoo River 
near Shell bluff, running on west side of Roebuck Lake, through McNutt, 
and 3 miles westward of Minter’s; thence near Trenton and through Jones- 
town and Mound Place, to Dowd’s Landing. 

No lines have yet been surveyed in Yazoo valley, save some 20 miles south 
from Dowd’s. The line in the valley as above indicated has been projected 
from information furnished by the United States land surveys, which give 
the elevations of surface with reference to high-water mark upon the section 
lines as surveyed. They are believed to be generally correct, and no difficulty 
is anticipated in locating the line as laid down in the map from Eagle Lake 
to Dowd’s Landing. There are low swamps about Eagle Lake, extending 2 
or 3 miles north, that will require heavy work. South of Eagle Lake cross- 
ing of Yazoo down to the base of the hills, there are four low swamps en- 
countered, varying in width from 1 to 3 miles. It is difficult to estimate the 
amounts of grading upon this part of the line, in the absence of surveys. A 
good level route above high-water can be obtained by following the base of 
hills to Tcliula, and crossing Little River into Honey Island, and following up 
the river to Eagle Lake crossing. The objection to this line is an increase of 
about 4^- miles in distance. 

Preliminary surveys have been completed on main line from Mobile to Ya- 
zoo City ; also a survey from diverging point on summit of Strong and Pearl 
Rivers to Yazoo City, via Brandon and Canton, and from Canton to Tcliula, 
via Moore’s Ferry, Deasonville, Ebenezer, Hickory Springs, and Harlan’s 
Creek. Very thorough instrumental examinations have been made, and are 
now being made, upon all' portions of the line, to obtain the best possible 
route for final location of the road. Up to this date, over 600 miles of pre- 
liminary line has been run on the portions of route east of Yazoo City. The 
route east of Pascagoula River has been thoroughly examined, and the final 
location is now progressing. Surveys are being made for change in main 
line from Augusta, in Perry County, to Tcliula, in Holmes County, diverging 


13 


near Augusta, and following up tlie Tallalialla Creek to near Ellisville, tlie 
sliire town of Jones County ; tlience crossing to and following up tlie Okaliay 
Creek in nearly a direct line to Canton. Tlie summits of tlie streams are 
liiglier than tlie route via Jackson, and careful surveys are required to deter- 
mine tlie practicability of tlie route. It would be shorter and more direct 
than the Jackson route ; but would lose the benefits of the large local busi- 
ness between Strong River and Yazoo City, and the Yazoo valley to Tchula, 
and increase the length of the western branch line to Prentiss more than the 
distance saved upon main line. 

2. TOPOGRAPHY. 

From Mobile to crossing of Chick asawha River (about 47£ miles) the sur- 
face of the country is broken by the ridges and valleys of Big Creek, Dog 
River, Black Creek, Escatawpa River, and Beaver Creek, which run south- 
erly and across our route, forming a succession of summits with valley depres- 
sions from 100 to 200 feet below. The grading upon this portion of the line is 
the heaviest, proportionally, of any part of the route, and necessitated the 
adoption of a maximum grade of 31 per mile for the road to bring the 
amounts and costs within reasonable limits, commensurate with the neces- 
sities of the enterprise, and the financial ability of your company. As these 
maximum grades are generally short, only occurring on each side of sharp 
summit cuts, they may be lessened or lowered in the future when economy 
of transit and volume of traffic will justify the expenditure. 

The Escatawpa and Leaf Rivers are deep, sluggish streams, 200 to 500 feet 
in width, with broad bottoms 5000 to 6000 feet wide, and subject to overflow 
in freshets of 3 to 8 feet in depth on the bottoms. 

The valleys of Leaf River, Bowie and Okatoma Creeks are generally 
broad and smooth, with nearly uniform rise or grade of surface, requiring 
but light grading, except where occasional points of the hills are cut through 
to preserve most direct line. 

The ascent to the summit between Okatoma and Strong River is pretty 
smooth and uniform, and the summit is elevated about 250 feet above the 
valleys ; the surface, being piny woods sand loam soil, is much broken and 
cut up by sharp ravines and ridges, making a rough profile, and the de- 
scent down Seller’s Creek is of like character. Strong River is about 100 feet 
wide and 5 feet deep in ordinary stage of water, with rock bottom. The 
overflow line from freshets is 900 feet wide in the valley, and varying from 1 
to 4 feet deep on river bottom. 

The valley of Dobb’s Creek is quite favorable for route to summit ; between 
Strong and Pearl Rivers, the summit is elevated about 125 feet above the 
valleys. The summit is broad with an uneven surface, but the cuts and fills 
are not deep. 

The valley of Richland Creek and its branches is broad, with fair uniform 
surface, and requires but light grading to Pearl River valley. This valley is 
about 3 miles broad, and where the route is selected, the surface is overflowed 
by freshets from 5 to 10 feet, and will require heavy bank. The stream is 
200 feet wide and 15 feet deep at low water, and 48 feet deep at high water. 

From Jackson westward, the valley of Town Creek is very smooth, with 


14 


uniform rise of surface about 85 feet in tlie distance of 6 miles to Bogue 
Chitto. The head of Bogue Cliitto and down the creek for from 24 to 3 miles 
is somewhat broken and rough, with moderate cuts and fills ; the rest of the 
valley (14 miles further) is smooth and broad, with light grading to Big 
Black River. 

Big Black is about 200 feet broad, and the valley is 14 miles broad, and 
the bottoms are overflowed by freshets to a depth of from 3 to 5 feet. The 
maximum rise of freshets is about 24 feet. 

From Big Black to summit between that and Yazoo River, the country is 
pretty uniform in surface, rising gradually about 100 feet in 7 miles to the 
summit, and only broken up by the light valleys of the small creeks tribu- 
tary to Big Black. At the summit crossing the ridge is narrow and sharp, 
with a very abrupt descent into a branch of O’NeiFs Creek. 

The valley of O’Neil’s Creek (about 14 miles from summit) is from 500 to 
1000 feet wide, and descends toward Yazoo valley about 12 feet per mile. 
Heavy work is encountered from the summit down, until grade line reaches 
surface of valley. The Yazoo valley is about 170 feet below the summit, or 
about 20 feet lower than valley of Big Black. 

The line enters the Yazoo valley 7 miles south of Yazoo City, and con- 
tinues in the valley all the way to Dowd’s Landing, a distance of from 130 to 
135 miles. For the topography and general characteristics of the Yazoo 
Bottom, I refer you to extracts from the report of A. A. Humphreys, Captain 
in the United States Topographical Engineer Corps, upon the Physics and 
Hydraulics of the Mississippi River, in Appendix D. 

The country for a distance of 140 miles from Mobile westerly, along the 
route to Strong River, and extending south to the Gulf, and north for from 20 
to 50 miles, is a pine forest, sparsely settled, and soil of moderate fertility, 
except in the valleys of the streams which are rich. The largest proportion, 
and especially that west of Escatawpa River, and on Leaf River and its tri- 
butaries, is the finest virgin forest of yellow pine in the United States. Mast 
and spar timber of the best, and in quantities sufficient for the shipping of the 
world, is here waiting facilities for transportation to the sea. The lumber 
supply — of the finest quality — is practically inexhaustible for our day and 
generation, and the demand in the great States, north-west, west, and south- 
west of us, is unlimited by our contemplated railway facilities for supplying 
these wants. Westward of Strong River, and along the railroad route to 
Jackson, the growth gradually changes to oak, maple, sweet gum, and hicko- 
ry timbers, with corresponding increase in the fertility of the soil, making 
good, rich, upland cotton soil. 

The same character of growth continues from Jackson to Yazoo valley, and 
the country is well improved and has a large producing capacity. The val- 
ley of the Big Black and its numerous branches is very rich soil and well 
developed. 

The alignment of the route is excellent, admitting of long tangents, and 
curves of large radii, generally not less than 5760 feet radius ; in a few in- 
stances, on summits and rough ground, radii of 2880 feet have been used. I 
regret that the unfinished condition of the surveys prevents giving accurate 
tables of grade and alignment. I append hereto table of aggregate rise and 
fall of grades, made up roughly from the field-notes and profiles now made : 


15 


final location of line and accurate adjustments of grade lines will change 
these figures more or less : 



No. of 

Total Rise of Grade Ascending. 


Miles. 

East. 

West. 

Between Mobile and Enon 

88 

632 

756 

“ Enon and Jackson 

95 

387 

534 

2S41 

“ Jackson and Yazoo City 

45 

445 

“ Yazoo City and Dowd’s Landing 

124 

400 

470 


Totals 

352 

864 

20441 



3. CONSTRUCTION QUANTITIES. — CLEARING THE RIGHT OF WAY. 

The plan of construction provides that a space of 100 feet wide shall be 
cleared from all trees, brush, logs, etc. 

Of the 350 miles of main line, I estimate that 

From Mobile to Jackson there will be 150 miles of clearing. 

From Jackson to Yazoo City there will be 20 “ “ 

From Yazoo City to Dowd’s Landing there will be. . .100 “ “ 

Total 270 miles, or 3240 acres. 


GRADING. 

First division, 88 miles from Mobile to Enon. The quantities are 
computed from profiles of the preliminary line, and the total exca- 
vation and bank quantities give an average of 40,000 cubic yards per 

mile, and an aggregate of 3,500,000 

Part of second division, 50 miles from Enon to foot of rough 
ground east of Okatoma Creek summit. The quantities for this 
portion are roughly estimated from the field-notes, no profiles being 
made. The total quantities of excavation and bank average 18,000 

per mile, and the aggregate yards 913,000 

Part of second and third division, 88£ miles from Okatoma Creek 
to Yazoo City. This portion of the main line comprises all the sum- 
mits and nearly all the rough ground encountered on the line west 
of Pascagoula River. Maps and profiles of preliminary lines have 
been made, and the quantities computed. The total excavation and 
bank average about 27,000 yards per mile, and the aggregate cubic 

yards to 2,300,000 

Part of third and all of fourth divisions, about 124 miles, from 
Yazoo City to Dowd’s Landing. 

If the grade lines are elevated so as to be above all contingency 
of overflow from crevasse waters of the Mississippi River, and floods 
of the Yazoo combined, the average quantities per mile will be from 
16,000 to 17,000 cubic yards. 

I do not think that sound policy requires this height of grade at 
this time. The highest water-mark known, at Greenwood, (about 
35 miles north in a direct line of where our line enters the Yazoo 


16 


basin,) occurred in 1858, and was 48 feet above low water. The 
causes were unusual and unprecedented ; a long-continued and ex- 
traordinary rain-fall had flooded the Yazoo River and filled all the 
swamps with water, prior to the great flood in the Mississippi 
River ; the levees were down generally, and the waters of the 
Mississippi flowed in on the accumulation of the Yazoo flood. The 
upland grounds on our line of location were nearly submerged, the 
height ranging from 2 feet above to 4 to 6 feet below high-water 
mark. The Yazoo basin is about 186 miles long in a right line, and 
has a grade or fall, corresponding to fall in Mississippi River, of 120 
feet. _ The greatest rise of water at the foot of basin, Vicksburg, is 
49 feet, say 50 feet. This elevation would back the Mississippi flood- 
waters up the Yazoo River and its tributaries of 186, equal to say 
80 miles, and would reach the latitude of Greenwood, leaving the 
surface of uplands forty feet above these flood-waters, provided no 
Mississippi water came from above down the Yazoo basin. The 
consequences of the flood of 1858 to property in Yazoo basin induced 
vigorous action on the part of the State of Mississippi, and the levees 
were rebuilt, all the outlets above closed, and so remained till 1862. 

During the war all these outlets were opened, and levees in places 
of low banks cut by the military, allowing the Mississippi floods to 
deluge the Yazoo bottom. 

Owing to the unsettled state of political affairs since the close of 
the war, nothing has been done toward repairing those levees until 
this year. The Mississippi Legislature in MarchTast instituted mea- 
sures and provided ample means for^making the most permanent 
levee protection for all the Yazoo basin against the flood-waters of 
the Mississippi, and the work is now vigorously progressing, and 
will be substantially completed before the floods of 1873. 

Grade line adopted on the basis of this protection will give an 
average of 10,000 to 11,000 c. yards per mile. Say in the aggregate. 1,350,000 
Total aggregate cubic yards 8,143,000 

Being an average for whole of main line of 23,130 cubic yards per 
mile. 

BRIDGING. 

With the exception of in Holmes and Rankin Counties, there is no rock or 
stone within practical distance of our line. Brick are plentiful and of good 
quality, but the difficulty and cost of transportation to location of structures 
forbid their use to any considerable extent. 

The plan of constructioiVcontemplates use of timber for foundations and 
superstructure of bridges. 

From Mobile to-Jackson, yellow pine timber will be used ; the cost will be 
very low for delivery of materials, say $12 to $15 per M feet. From Big 
Black River to Dowd’s Landing, red cypress (the most durable timber known) 
will be used ; its cost will be very moderate, somewhat higher than pine, from 
increase in cost in getting it out of swamps instead of from hard land, say $15 
to $18 per M feet. 

The general plan used will be pile trestle-bents supporting heavy track* 


17 


stringers or rail-plates ; tlie bents formed of 3 to 5 piles firmly driven, and 
cut off and capped at a height to receive the grade-stringers. Upon the larger 
streams double pile-bents will be used, carrying truss-bridges of 50 to 100 feet 
spans. The cost of pile-trestle bridging, as lately built on the New-Orleans 
and Mobile Railroad on the plan as above, was $5 to $7 per linear foot of 
bridge and bents, and of truss-bridges of 55 feet span, $10 to $12 per linear 
foot of bridge and bents. 

Approximate amount of these items, made up from best information now at 
hand, is as follows : 



Linear Foot Trestle. 

Linear Foot Truss, 
50 Feet Span. 

Linear Foot Truss, 
100 Feet Span. 

Mobile to Enon 1 

19.730 

150 

800 

Elion to Jackson 

8,200 

320 


Jackson to Yazoo City 

4,500 

• . 

300 

Yazoo City to Dowd’s Landing. 

24,000 

1600 

200 

Aggregates 

56,430 

2070 

1300 


The foregoing quantities are made up from certain adopted grades and 
plans of structures. The first outlay for construction can be materially 
diminished upon the first 50 miles, (the portion containing about one fourth 
of all the work upon about one seventh of the whole distance,) by adopting 
grades 5 to 10 feet more per mile and building a coarser or less finished 
class of bridging, etc., and yet have, when completed, a road of better grades 
and alignment, and better fitted for economic traffic, than the great majority 
of roads now in operation in the country. 

TRAFFIC. 

With the extension line to Memphis completed, our road is at once connect- 
ed with the various lines of commerce centring at that city, as well as the 
much larger commercial centre reached by the completion of the Iron Moun- 
tain Railroad from Helena to St. Louis. These avenues must, of necessity, 
(directness and economy of transit considered,) furnish the supplies and wants 
of Central Mississippi, and give egress for her productions. This traffic will 
consist of items as follows : 

LOCAL BUSINESS. 

Local traffic from the line of road will consist mainly of lumber going 
westward to supply the States west of the Mississippi, and southward to the 
sea for exportation, and cotton going to Mobile for shipment abroad. 

The lumber region south or east of Jackson, as before stated, will furnish 
unlimited amounts at low cost. Lumber-men in this same region, but south, 
are now cutting lumber to special bills, and delivering it loaded on the cars 
of the New-Orleans and Mobile Railroad, at $12 per M feet. From this re- 
gion to Helena will average say, 300 miles ; the lumber weighs on an average 
1£ tons per M feet ; 4 cents per M feet per mile affords a fair profit for this 
kind of business in quantify. The cost of transportation would be $12, and 
cost of promiscuous lumber, including loading on cars, $11 per M feet. To- 


18 


tal delivered at Helena $23 per M. The market price now is $30. From 
this point ample facilities are furnished by the steamers and barges for dis- 
tribution on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers. Upon the comple- 
tion of the St. Louis and Helena Railroad, and the Helena and Kansas City 
Railroad, now under vigorous prosecution, the lumber may be forwarded in 
same cars to St. Louis, 300 miles, at total cost there of $35 per M, (it is now 
worth $45 per M,) and to Kansas City, 340 miles, of $36.60. The demand at 
these last-named points for lumber of all kinds is unlimited ; toward Mobile, 
the demand, now limited, will gradually increase to a large traffic. Pearl 
River, Pascagoula River, and Pensacola ship large quantities annually to 
Texas, the gulf ports and islands, and to France. There never has been here- 
tofore adequate supply at Mobile for local consumption. The construction of 
this road will furnish this supply ; the lumber can be delivered at Mobile 
from this region at $14 per M. It is now worth $16 to $26 per M. 

The cotton region naturally tributary to this road is as yet hardly begun to 
be developed. In the Big Black valley, and eastward to Jackson, the country 
is well cultivated, and now grows a large amount of cotton. The total pre- 
sent production that would seek our road is between 300,000 and 350,000 bales. 
The opening up of the rich Yazoo basin lands, by the construction of this 
railroad, will increase this production to an extent hard to be realized now. 
The pine region, as the lumber is removed, will be cleared up, and grow good 
crops of cotton, sweet potatoes, and the finest fruits, especially grapes and 
peaches. 

Local traffic on the line of road will be, from the westward, flour, pork, 
bacon, hay, oats, corn, and horses and mules. All of these are supplied from 
the North-western States, principally through St. Louis, and some from Cin- 
cinnati ; also hardware, agricultural tools aud implements ; machinery, and 
general mercantile dry goods and groceries, are supplied from the same 
points. I have no statistics of the amounts of these items of traffic ; they are 
only limited by the number of population and ability to purchase. The cost 
to consumers is now comparatively enormous ; 50 to 150 per cent being added, 
alter leaving Mississippi River, for distribution into the interior. 

Local traffic on the line from the eastward, or Mobile, will be salt and 
West-India products — coffee, spices, sugar, tropical fruits, nuts, etc. etc. 

THROUGH BUSINESS 

Mobile harbor is entered with a depth of 23 feet of water on outer bar. 
The anchorage ground is of the best quality for holding ; ample in area of 
surface, and with a depth of 24 to 30 feet of water. It is well sheltered, safe 
and secure for vessels in storms, and easy of access, and believed to be the 
best harbor on the Gulf of Mexico. The improvements of dredging a broad 
channel from the harbor up to the docks of the city, so as to allow vessels 
drawing 15 feet of water to discharge cargoes in Mobile, without the inter- 
vention of lighterage, now progressing under the auspices of the city of Mo- 
bile, the State of Alabama, and the general government, will, when com- 
pleted, (and there seems no reasonable doubt of its early completion,) make 
the port of Mobile the cheapest and most desirable shipping point on the 
Gulf. It will invite, create, and enlarge commercial interchanges to the ex- 
tent and capacity of the avenues of communication opening landward, of 


19 


wliicli the Mobile and North-western Railroad will be one of the most impor- 
tant, tapping, as it were, the business of the great North-west, through a 
more direct, shorter, and cheaper line than any now constructed or devised, 
connected at Helena with a north line to St. Louis, and another north-west 
line to Kansas City, and another west line to Little Rock, and thence up the 
Arkansas River, all of which are in process of construction, and will be com- 
pleted by the time our line reaches to Helena, all converging and centring 
at Helena to pour their traffic on to our road. Our line from Helena to Jack- 
son forms a link in the most direct air-line route from St. Louis to New- 
Orleans. This North-west country wants salt, sugar, spices, foreign goods of 
all kinds, and productions of the States bordering on the southern shore of 
the Gulf of Mexico, and in return has iron, cotton, and the cereals for ship- 
ment, and will naturally seek the nearest and cheapest market ; and Mobile 
can furnish this with her improved harbor facilities, and the exercise of a wise 
forecast in providing increased means and appliances to insure economy of 
traffic and proper development of their great interests. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Henry Van Vleck, Chief Engineer. 













APPENDIX. 


♦♦♦ 


APPENDIX A.— FRANCHISES. 

CHARTER. 

An Act to incorporate the Mobile and North western 
Railroad Company. 

Names of in- Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of 
corporators. Mississippi, That Marshall 0. Roberts, John II. Garner, Thomas 
Henry, Isaac Goldsmith, Gustavus Horton, L. Scranton, W. H. 
Ross* Lewis Troost, W. D. Mann, L. Brewer, C. H. Delamater, 
A. M. West, Robert Lowry, W. H. Gardner, B. Moo#, James 
Gillette, C. F. Moulton, George B. Preston, Thomas W. Sims, A. J. 
Moses, Charles Forsyth, Frederick G. Bromberg, George Vidmer, 

J. A. Yordy, J. P. Soutliwortli, M. B. Jonas, G. H. Wilcox, W. 
W. Cantine, B. Y. Pippey, C. W. Pierce, A. E. Buck, J. L. 
Worth, John R. Waller, S. A. II. Marks, II. D. Cooke, George 
H. Reynolds, James Gardner, A. L. Rowe, Isaac H. Bailey, Isaac 

K. Roberts, W. Schaffer, B. R. Pierce, E. D. Richardson, F. P. 
Hilliard, J. J. Hooker, M, S. Alcorn, J. A. P. Campbell, William 
H. Bolton, J. C. Clark, John Jones, M. A. Banks, G. A. Ketclium, 
Alphonse Hurtel, Jesse Ellis, J. P. Carter, E. M. Devall, Stephen 
Johnson, William R. Whittaker, and their associates, be, and they 
are hereby incorporated into and constituted a body politic and 

Name of com- corporate, under the name and style of “Mobile and North- 
pany. western Railroad Company,” and by that name are hereby 

Authonty^^ authorized to have and hold real and personal property 
pany U and re- for the objects, purposes, and business of said corporation 
sponsibilities within this State, or within any other State sovereignty or 
imposed. government that may authorize, sanction, and permit the 
same ; to make contracts ; to sue and be sued, plead and be im- 
pleaded ; to make and break a common seal ; to make rules, 
regulations, by-laws, and ordinances for the management, direc- 
tion, and control of said corporation, not inconsistent with nor 
contrary to the laws of the State of Mississippi, and to the con- 
ditions and provisions stated and set forth in this act ; and to 
have, enjoy, and exercise all the rights, powers, and privileges 
pertaining to corporate bodies and necessary for the objects and 
purposes of this act, with the privilege and authority to exer- 
cise such corporate powers within the said State of Mississippi ; 
and also within any other State of the United States that shall 
recognize the existence of said corporation, and sanction, 
authorize, and permit the exercise of said corporate powers by 
said corporation within its limits. 

General pur- Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the general purposes and 
poses of the objects of this corporation, the pursuit and furtherance of which 
corpora ion. . g ] iere py g ran ted, are hereby defined to be as follows : To con- 
struct. and build, and thereafter to own, maintain, manage, and 
use, a main trunk railroad upon such a route, and such a course, 
and with such track or tracks thereupon, as may be deemed by 
a majority of the Board of Directors of said corporation most 


21 


proper and expedient and best adapted to and for tlie public ac- 
commodation, from some suitable point on tlie eastern line of 
the State, near its south-east corner, where a railroad from 
Mobile on the best route would intersect it ; thence extending 
in a north-west direction through the State of Mississippi to the 
Mississippi River, in the direction of a point at or near Helena, 
Arkansas, or such other point on the Mississippi River as may be 
deemed most eligible. And also to take, transport, carry, and 
convey persons, and property upon said railroad, by power or 
steam, or by any other power, and to receive for such trans- 
portation, carriage, and conveyance such tolls and charges as 
shall be from time to time established, fixed, and regulated by 
the directors of said corporation. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted , That the said corporation is 
hereby authorized to take and receive by grant, bequest, or 
other gift, and to own and possess any real and personal estate 
that may be granted, devised, or given to it, by or from any 
person or persons, corporation or association, and to obtain by 
purchase, and to own and possess any real and personal estate 
that may be necessary and convenient for the construction, 
maintenance, and management of said railroad and branches, 
whether such real and personal estate may be situate or may be 
granted, devised, given, or obtained by purchase, within the limits 
of the State of Mississippi or elsewhere ; and for the purposes of 
constructing said railroad and branches within the State of 
Mississippi, the said corporation are hereby authorized to lay out 
their said railroads and branches, or either of them, not ex- 
ceeding two hundred feet wide, and to construct the same 
through and upon any lands of the State of Mississippi ; and 
also to take and hold for the same, and for the purpose of neces- 
sary depots, stations, cuttings, turn-outs, and for obtaining stone 
and gravel, timber and other material, for the construction of 
said railroad and branches, any lands belonging to the State of 
Mississippi, and lying along or adjacent to the routes of said 
railroad and branches, that may be necessary for the construc- 
tion, maintenance, and security of said railroad and branches ; 
and said corporation is also hereby authorized to lay out their 
said railroad and branches, or either of them, within the State 
of Mississippi, not exceeding two hundred feet wide, upon any 
lands within said State, and to take and possess the same, and 
for the purposes of necessary turn-outs, depots, cuttings, and 
embankments, and for obtaining stone, gravel, timber, and 
other materials for the construction and maintenance of said 
railroad, to take and possess as much more land as may be 
necessary for the construction, maintenance, and security of said 
railroads : Provided, that all damages that may be occasioned 
or that may arise to any person or persons, corporations or as- 
sociations, other than the State of Mississippi, by the taking of 
such lands and material for the possession and use of said 
corporation as aforesaid, shall be paid for in the manner pro- 
vided in this act. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That the corporate powers of 
said corporation shall be exercised, and the business and busi- 
ness affairs shall be conducted and managed by thirteen direc- 
tors. The thirteen persons herein first named as corporators 
shall be directors for the first year, and until others are ap- 
pointed or elected to fill their place. After the expiration of the 
first year, the directors shall be elected annually by the stock- 
holders of said corporation, at such time and place as may be 
hereafter named and designated in the by-laws of said corpora- 
tion. All directors shall be stockholders, and all elections for 


Line of road. 


Authority of 
company to 
receive, hold 
and dispose of 
real and per- 
sonal estate. 


Property to 
be paid for. 


How the busi- 
ness shall be 
managed. 


Directors to 
be stockhold- 
ers. 


At first meet- 
ing directors 
to elect offi- 
cers. 


Power to 
adopt by- 
laws, etc., for 
their govern- 
ment. 


Directors to 
determine the 
amount of ca- 
pital stock. 


Number to 
constitute a 
quorum. 

Number of 
directors. 


How vacan- 
cies in the 
Board of Di- 
rectors shall 
be filled. 

No forfeiture 
for failure to 
hold election 
at time ap- 
pointed. 

Duties of sec- 
retary. 


Duties of pre- 
sident. 


Power and 
authority of 
company to 
do certain 
things 


directors sliall be by ballot, and every stockholder shall be 
entitled to one vote, in person or by proxy, for each share of 
stock held or owned by him. 

Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That the directors of said cor- 
poration, at their first meeting 1 , which shall be within six 
months after the passage of this act, shall elect one ot their 
number president, and also one of their number vice-president ; 
and shall elect a secretary and treasurer of said corporation ; 
and they shall, from time to time, adopt by-laws, rules, and regu- 
lations for the observance and government of said corporation, 
its officers and members, in the management of the business and 
business affairs of said corporation, and which shall provide for 
the election and appointment of such other officers and agents 
of said corporation as shall be deemed necessary ; and shall 
name the time and place for the future annual meetings and 
elections of the stockholders of said corporation ; the said 
directors, at a meeting deemed by them proper, shall determine 
the amount of capital stock of said corporation, and the limits 
thereof, and the number of shares, and the par value of each 
share, and shall provide for receiving subscriptions to the 
capital stock, and opening books for the purpose ; and the 
amount of the capital stock of said corporation and the limits 
thereof, and the number and par value of its shares, shall not 
thereafter be changed, except by the vote of the majority of the 
stockholders in interest of said corporation, at a special meeting 
called for that purpose by the president and secretary, by any 
five of the directors, or by a number of stockholders owning or 
representing one fourth of the shares of said capital stock. 
Five of said directors shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 
action of business ; and the number of the said directors may be 
increased or diminished by a majority vote of the stockholders 
in interest, at any future annual meeting : Provided, The number 
shall not be less than five and not more than seventeen. In case 
the number of directors is reduced to less than seven, a majority 
of them shall constitute a quorum. Vacancies in the Board of 
Directors shall be filled by a vote of two thirds of the directors 
remaining ; such appointees are to continue until the next regu- 
lar annual election of directors ; in case it shall so happen that 
an election of directors shall not be made on the day appointed 
by the by-laws of said corporation, said company for that cause 
shall not be deemed dissolved ; but such election may be liolden 
on any subsequent day, which the then existing directors may 
appoint; the directors are to continue in office until their suc- 
cessors are elected and qualified ; the secretary of said corpora- 
tion shall enter upon the book of records of said corporation the 
proceedings of the first meeting of said directors, as also those 
of any adjourned meeting thereof ; and the president shall, 
within thirty days thereafter, file a true copy thereof, certified 
by himself and the said secretary, under the seal of said corpo- 
ration, in the office of the secretary of state, who is hereby 
authorized to receive and file the same among the records of his 
office, and which certified copy, as well as the original, shall be 
deemed and taken as conclusive evidence of the facts therein 
stated. 

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted. That the said company, their 
officers, servants, and agents, shall have full power and authority 
to enter upon all lands and tenements through which they may 
deem it necessary to make said road, and to survey, lay out, and 
construct the same, and to agree and contract for the land or 
right of way, with the owners of the land through which they 
may intend to make the said railroad ; and in case said land 


23 


belongs to the estate of any deceased person, then with the How certain 
executor or administrator of such ; or ill case the same belongs obtained^ be 
to a minor, then with his or her guardian ; or in case said lands 
be held by trustees of school sections, or other trustees of the 
estate, then with such trustees ; and the said executors, guar- 
dians, administrators, and trustees are hereby declared compe- 
tent for such estates or minors, to contract with the said com- 
pany for the right to use, possess, and occupy the lands of such 
estates, minors, or trustees, so far as may be necessary or useful 
to the purposes of said railroad ; and the act and deed of such 
executors, administrators, guardians, or trustees, in relation 
thereto, shall pass the title in and to said land, in the same 
manner as if the said deed or act was done by legal owner of 
full age ; and such executor, administrator, guardian, or trustee 
shall account to those interested upon their respective bonds for 
the amount paid him in pursuance of such agreement and com- 
pensation ; and if the said company and parties representing p ower to re _ 
lands prefer, they may refer the question of compensation to f er matters to 
arbitrators mutually chosen, whose award or that of their arbitrators, 
umpire, in case of disagreement, shall vest title according to 
its terms. 

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That if said company can not how com- 
agree with the owner of the land through which they desire pany may ob- 
said road to pass, or with the executor, administrator, guardian, or lai ^’ e 

trustees aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for the clerk of the ^ey can not 
circuit court of the county in which such lands lie, on the appli- agree with 
cation of said company, or its agents, and he is required to issue owners . guar- 
a writ of ad quod damnum , commanding the sheriff that with- ians ’ e c ‘ 
out delay he cause a jury of seven good and lawful men to be Sheriff to per- 
upon such land, on a day to be by the said sheriff fixed and ap- f° r “ certain 
pointed, and whereof it shall be iiis duty to give notice to the u ies ’ 
owner, executor, administrator, guardian, or trustee, at least five 
days before such day, if they be within his county, or if not, or 
if the owner or owners be unknown, then notice shall be given 
by advertisement, to be by said sheriff posted and fixed at the 
dwelling-house, if such there be, or on a public and conspicuous 
part of said land, at least five days before such appointed day, 
and then and there cause such jury, after being duly sworn by jurors sworn 
said sheriff or some justice of the peace, to make true inquest by sheriff ora 
of the damage suffered by such owner or estate, by reason of J ustice of the 
making said road through the land; if any such jurors fail to peace ‘ 
appear, or, by reason of challenge for cause or otherwise, fail to 
sit on said inquest, the sheriff shall fill the said jury from the 
bystanders ; and if they fail to render a verdict, the sheriff 
shall again, on the same or a subsequent day, impanel a new 
jury or jurors, until a verdict be had ; which verdict and in- 
quest, regularly certified by said sheriff, shall be returned into Sheriff to re- 
the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which turn verdict 
said lands lie, and there remain among the records ; and the cncuit^ourt 16 
said inquest shall vest in said company the right to occupy and 
use such land for the purposes of said railroad, on the payment 
or tender of payment, of the damages therein assessed against 
said company ; and in case of persons absent or unknown as afore- 
said, the placing of the amount of said damages to the credit of the 
owner in the hands of the clerk of the circuit court of the county 
where such lands may lie, shall be deemed and taken as payment ; 
and such clerk shall be liable on their bonds to make due pay- 
ment of the said money so deposited on demand thereof. 

Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the 
sheriff to appoint and hold said inquest within ten days after giunohold 
the receipt of said writ, ad quod damnum , and five days in ad- inquest. 


24 


Penalty for 
sheriff neg- 
lecting to per- 
form duty. 
Penalty for 
,i urors neg- 
lecting to at- 
tend. 

Fees allowed. 


Duty of com- 
pany before 
making appli- 
cation for 
writ. 


Additional 
rights confer- 
red on com- 
pany. 


To make com- 
pensation. 


To contract 
for lands to 
build depots, 
etc. 


Right of way 
over State 
lands, etc. 


Authority to 
cross, inter- 
sect, and join 
other rail- 
roads. 


How disagree- 
ment may be 
settled. 


dition are allowed him for every additional jury which he may 
have under said writ ; and for every default therein, the said 
sheriff shall be fined by the circuit court, at the instance of 
either party, not less than twenty nor more than one hundred 
dollars ; and every juror summoned shall be fined not less than 
ten dollars for non-attendance ; of all such fines or costs, the 
circuit court of the county shall have jurisdiction. There shall be 
allowed the following fees : To the clerks of the circuit court, for 
every writ of ad quod damnum, seventy- five cents ; for receiving 
and filing inquests, seventy-five cents ; to the sheriff’, for giving 
notice, twenty-five cents ; for holding inquest, five dollars ; and 
for summoning witnesses, seventy-five cents each ; jurors, each, 
two dollars per diem ; which fees are not allow r ed till the ver- 
dict be returned and filed, and shall be taxed in the bill of costs, 
and paid by the said company : Provided, however, That before 
the application of said writ, the said company may tender to 
the owner or owners of any such lands a sum of money by them 
deemed equivalent to the damage to be sustained, and upon the 
refusal to accept the sum tendered, and a verdict for the same 
amount, or a less sum, the cost shall be taxed to, and paid by, 
the said owner or owners of the land upon wiiich inquest is 
held. 

Sec. 9. Be it further enacted. That the said company, for the 
purpose of making said railroad, or repairing or changing it 
afterward, shall have the same right of entry on adjacent land, 
and to cut, quarry, dig, take, and carry away any stone, w r ood, 
gravel, earth, or other materials which may be necessary, as is 
before provided, as to the right of way : Provided, however. That 
in all cases the said company shall make compensation to the 
owners, etc., as agreed on in manner thereinbefore provided. 

Sec. 10. Be it further enacted, That the said company may 
agree and contract for lands necessary for depots or other pur- 
poses, or condemn the same in like manner, and by like pro- 
ceedings as hereinbefore provided for the lands on the route of 
the road. 

Sec. 11. Be it further enacted, That the said company shall 
have the right of way over, and the right to use materials on, 
any part of the land belonging to the State, over which the line 
of railroad of said company may pass. 

Sec. 12. Be it further enacted, That said company is hereby 
authorized to cross, intersect, join, and unite its railroad and 
branches with any other railroad heretofore or hereafter con- 
structed in the State of Mississippi, at any points on their routes, 
and upon the ground of such other railroad company, with the 
necessary turn-outs, sidings, switches, and other conveniences 
in furtherance of the objects of its connections ; and every rail- 
road company in the State of Mississippi, whose railroad shall 
be intersected hereafter, by the railroad and branches of this 
company, shall unite with it in forming such intersections and 
connections, and grant the facilities aforesaid ; and if the said 
railroad company, and those heretofore or hereafter constructed 
in the State of Mississippi, can not agree upon the points and 
manner of such crossings, intersections, and connections, and the 
divisions and apportionment of the cost and expense of the same, 
between said companies, and the division and apportionment 
between said companies of the tolls received for transportation, 
the same shall be ascertained and determined by commissioners, 
to be appointed by the circuit court of any county where said' 
intersecting railroad is situated. 

Sec. 13. Be it f urther enacted, That wdienever it shall be ne- 
cessary for the construction of the railroad and branches of said 


25 


corporation to intersect or cross any stream or water-course, or 
any road or highway, it shall be lawful for said corporation to 
construct across or upon the same ; but the said corporation 
shall reestablish said stream or water-course, road or highway 
thus intersected, in such manner as not to prevent the passage 
thereon ; and in all cases where any public highway or road is 
located in such manner that the railroad can not be judiciously 
laid out and constructed across or upon the same, without inter- 
fering therewith, in such case or cases said corporation may, by 
their engineers, cause such road or roads to be changed or al- 
tered in such manner that said railroad may be made on the 
best site of ground for that purpose : Provided, Said corporation 
shall put such road in as good repair as at the time of changing 
or altering the same. 

Sec. 14. Be it further enacted. That the railroad and branches 
of said corporation may cross the navigable waters of the Gulf 
of Mexico and the Mississippi River, at one or more points, with 
bridges or any other description of work : Provided, That such 
bridges or other work must be so constructed as to allow the 
navigation of said waters. 

Sec. 15. Be it further enacted, That said company is empow- 
ered and authorized to purchase or lease, from any railroad com- 
pany or corporation, its railroad and the charter, franchises, pro- 
perty, and appurtenances thereof, and maintain and use the same 
as a part of the property of said company ; and the said company 
is also authorized and empowered to enter into mutual contract 
with any other railroad company or corporation, by which the 
capital stock and property of such other company or corpora- 
tions shall become merged and consolidated with said company, 
and into one joint and common stock, and be and exist as one 
company, possessing and enjoying all the powers and franchises, 
rights and privileges granted to, or vested in, each and all the 
companies so consolidated and united, by this State or other 
States through which the railroad and branches of said com- 
pany, so consolidated and united, may pass ; the provisions of 
any statute heretofore passed by this State to the contrary not 
withstanding. 

Sec. 1G. Be it further enacted, That this company is authoriz- 
ed and empowered, from time to time, to borrow money, or to 
purchase property upon its own credit, for the purpose of con- 
structing and maintaining said railroad and branches, or estab- 
lishing continuous and connecting lines of railroads, as hereto- 
fore provided in its act of incorporation ; and as evidence of in- 
debtedness of said company for such loans or the purchase of 
such property, may issue its corporate bonds, or promissory 
notes, bearing interest at such rate per annum as may be deem- 
ed expedient by the Board of Directors ; and to secure the pay- 
ment of said bonds and notes, may mortgage its railroad and 
branches, its capital stock, its corporate franchise, and any of its 
real or personal property, or any part or portion of the same ; 
and it may, by its president, or other officers and agents duly 
authorized by its directors, sell, dispose of, or negotiate its capi- 
tal stock, such capital stock being declared to be personal pro- 
perty, and transferable as such, or any of its personal property, 
at such time and place, and at such rates and for such prices, 
either for cash, property, or services rendered to the company, 
either within or without the limits of the State, as in the judg- 
ment of said company or its directors will best advance its in- 
terests ; and if such bonds, notes, or stocks are thus sold at a 
discount, such sale shall be, in all respects, valid and binding 
upon this company ; and such stock, bonds, or notes shall be as 


Authority to 
cross any 
stream of 
water. 

Duty of com- 
pany. 


May cross 1 
Gulf of Mexi- 
co, and the 
Mississippi 
River. 


Authority to 
purchase 
other rail- 
roads and 
franchises, 
etc. 


Authority to 
borrow mo- 
ney, etc. 


May issue 
bonds. 


May mort- 
gage its pro- 
perty for the 
redemption ot 
its bonds. 
May give 
authority to 
its president 
or other offi- 
cers to sell its 
capital stock, 
etc. 


If bonds, etc., 
are sold at a 
discount, sale 
to be valid. 


26 


Authority 
given com- 
pany to obtain 
certain rights 
and privi- 
leges. 


Authority of 
cities and vil- 
lages to con- 
fer certain 
privileges. 
Privileges 
once confer- 
red not to be 
revoked, ex- 
cept by con- 
sent of com- 
pany. 


May receive 
conditional 
donations of 
land. 

How such do 
nations shall 
be made. 


Time given 
for com- 
pliance with 
conditions. 


In what 
courts suits 
may be 
brought. 

Who process 
may be 
served upon. 


Company to 
designate one 
of its agents 
whom process 
may be 
served upon. 


How sub- 
scription may 
be applied for. 


How the ques- 
tion of sub- 
scription may 
be submitted. 


valid for tlie par value thereof as if tlie same had been sold at 
par value. 

Sec. 17. Be it further enacted, That the said company is 
hereby authorized and empowered to obtain, by grant or other- 
wise, from any incorporated city or village within this State, 
that may be situated upon its railroad and branches, any rights, 
privileges, or franchises that any of said incorporated cities or 
villages may choose to grant in reference to the construction, 
and maintenance, and management of the railroad of said com- 
pany, its depots, cars, locomotives, and its business within the 
limits of such or any of said incorporated cities and villages ; 
‘and any such incorporated city or village, as hereinbefore named, 
is hereby authorized and empowered to grant to said company 
any such rights, privileges, and franchises as it may deem pro- 
per and advisable ; and such rights, and privileges, and fran- 
chises, when granted to and accepted by said company, from 
any such incorporated city or village, shall be deemed and taken 
as rights, privileges, and franchises vested and confirmed in said 
company, and not liable to be thereafter revoked, changed, in- 
j ured, or impaired, except with the consent of said company. 

Sec. 18. Be it further enacted, That said company may take 
and receive conditional donations of land for the purpose of con- 
structing said road, from parties willing to make the same, upon 
such conditions as the parties may offer ; which donations shall 
be made by deed conveying the lands to the Auditor of Public 
Accounts of the State of Mississippi, as a trustee, or to any 
other person that may be selected as a trustee, to be held by 
the party to whom said conveyance is made in trust, that upon 
the performance, by said company, of the conditions upon which 
such donation is made, said trustee will convey said lands to sai l 
company, so as to vest an absolute and indefeasible title to said 
lands in said company. But if said company shall not comply 
with the conditions upon which said donation is made within 
five years from the conveyance of the same, by the donor to 
said trustee, then the right of said company shall be defeated 
and forfeited, and it shall be the duty of the said trustee to re- 
convey said lands to the donor, or to his heirs or assigns. 

Sec. 19. Beit further enacted, That said company can sue and 
be sued, in this State, only in such courts of this State as are 
courts of record, and in such manner and; form only as corpora- 
tions in this State can be sued ; and service of process in any 
action against the -said company can be made only by service of 
the same upon either the president, secretary, treasurer, or any 
of the directors of said company, or upon an agent of the 
company, resident of this State, and designated by tlie company 
to receive such service ; and it shall be tlie duty of said company 
to designate one of its agents, residing in this State, as the agent 
upon whom such service of process can be made, and to give 
public notice, by advertisement for four consecutive weeks, in 
some newspaper published at some place on the line of the 
said railroad and branches, in this State, of appointment of such 
agent ; due notice shall be given whenever any change shall be 
made in such agency. 

Sec. 20. Be it f urther enacted , That upon application, by the 
president or other authorized agent of said corporation, to the 
constituted authorities of any county, city, or incorporated town 
in the State of Mississippi, on or adjacent to the main line and 
branch railroad of this corporation, for a subscription to a speci- 
fied amount of the capital stock of said corporation, said consti- 
tuted authorities are hereby required, without delay, to submit 
the question of “ subscription” or “ no subscription,” to the 


27 


decision of tlie qualified voters of said county, city, or incor- 
porated town at a special or regular election to be lield therein ; 
and if two thirds of said qualified voters be in favor of subscrip- 
tion, the constituted authorities of said counties, cities, or incor- 
porated towns, are hereby required, without delay, and are 
authorized and empowered to subscribe to the capital stock of 
said corporation to the amount agreed upon ; and bonds of the 
counties, cities, or incorporated towns making the subscriptions, 
having such times to run and such rates of interest as may be 
agreed upon, shall be issued without delay by the authorities of 
the counties, cities, and towns, to the president and directors of 
said corporation, to the amount of said subscription to the capital 
stock. An assessment shall be made upon the tax-payers of the 
counties, cities, and towns making the subscriptions, to pay the 
principal and interest of said bonds so issued ; and certificates of 
shares in the capital stock of said company shall be given to all 
persons paying taxes, for the principal and interest of said bonds, 
to the amount paid by them, whenever the sum of taxes so paid 
shall be equal to one or more shares of said capital stock : 
Provided, That before the bonds of any county, city, or incor- 
porated town, as above authorized, shall be issued and delivered 
to the said company, it shall be the duty of said company, 
through its president or agents, to give such security as shall be 
deemed sufficient by the constituted authorities of said county, 
city, or incorporated town, that the proceeds of the said bonds 
shall be faithfully applied to the construction and equipment of 
said railroad and branches. 

Sec. 21. Be it farther enacted, That in consideration of the 
construction of the railroads provided for herein, and of the great 
benefit which the State will receive in the development of its 
agricultural resources by means of said railroads as works of 
internal improvement, and also of the increased value which 
will thereby be added to the property of the State, thus enabling 
the State to greatly increase its revenue without additional and 
burdensome taxation upon the people, the State hereby agrees 
with said company, (and which agreement is irrepealable,) that 
all taxes to which said company shall be subject for the period 
of thirty years are hereby appropriated and set apart, and shall 
be applied, to the payment of the debts and liabilities which the 
said company may have incurred in the construction of said road, 
or for money borrowed by said company upon lands or other- 
wise, to be used in constructing said road, or paying debts 
incurred by said company in constructing the same ; and it 
shall be the duty of the tax-collector in every county in each and 
every year, to give to said company a receipt in full for the 
amount of said taxes upon receiving of said company an affidavit 
made by the president or cashier of said company, that the 
amount of said taxes have actually and in good faith been paid 
and applied by said company during the year, in payment of the 
debts incurred, or money borrowed as aforesaid, and which 
receipt so given shall be in full of all taxes, county, State, and 
municipal, to which said company shall be subject : Provided, 
however, That whenever the profits of said company shall enable 
it to declare and pay to the stockholders an annual dividend of 
eight per cent upon its capital stock, over and above the pay- 
ment of its debts and liabilities, then the appropriation of the 
taxes aforesaid shall cease, and said taxes shall be paid by said 
company to the tax collector, to be by him paid over as required 
by law. • 

Sec. 22. Be it farther enacted , That said company hereby in- 
corporated shall commence building the main stem of said rail- 


How assess- 
ments may be 
made. 


Company to 
give security 
before receiv- 
ing bonds. 


Exempt from 
tax for a lim- 
ited time, for 
the construc- 
tion of road. 


Duty of tax 
collectors. 


When tax 
shall be paid. 


When the con- 
struction of 
the road shall 
commence. 


28 


road witliin three years of the passage of this act, otherwise this 
charter shall be forfeited. 

now this act Sec. 23. Be it f urther enacted, That this act shall be favorably 
shall be con- and liberally construed, so as to favor all the purposes and the 
strued. objects of the same, and the operation of the provisions thereof. 

Sec. 24. Be it further enacted, That all acts, and parts of acts, 
in conflict with the provisions of this act, be and the same are 
hereby repealed, and this act take effect and be in force from 
and after its passage. 

Approved July 20, 1870. 

An Act for the Consolidation of tiie Mobile and North-west- 
ern Railroad Companies of Alabama and Mississippi, and to fa- 
cilitate the Objects thereof. 

Whereas . The State cf Mississippi, by act of the Legislature thereof, approv- 
ed July 20tli, 1870, incorporated the Mobile and North-western Railroad Com- 
pany ; And whereas, a corporation exists in this State, under the general laws 
thereof, by the same name ; And whereas, the object of said two corpora- 
tions is to construct a railroad from the city of Mobile, in this State, to a point 
in the State of Mississippi opposite Helena, in Arkansas, and to other points on 
the Mississippi River ; And ichereas, it is desirable that the said two corpora- 
tions should be consolidated and become one corporation for the object afore- 
said ; therefore — 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Alabama, That the 
said Mobile and North-western Railroad Company, incorporated under the 
general law of Alabama, shall have power to agree with the said Mobile 
and North-western Railroad Company, incorporated by act of Legislature of 
Mississippi, for the consolidation of said two corporations, upon such terms 
and conditions as shall seem proper to said corporations, provided they do 
not conflict with the laws of Alabama, so that the same shall, from the date 
of said agreement, form but one corporation, which shall be known by the 
name of “ Mobile and North-western Railroad Company.” 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That this consolidated company shall be 
managed by a board of seven or more directors, five of whom shall consti- 
tute a quorum for the transaction of business ; any law or parts of law to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That for the term of thirty years, in lieu 
of all taxes in the said State of Alabama, of whatever name or nature, in- 
cluding State, county, city, and municipal taxes, except the specific annual 
tax for the maintenance of public schools, a State tax of three per centum on 
all dividends declared and paid to the stockholders of said corporation, from 
time to time, shall be paid by said corporation to the State, through and in 
which the said railroad of said corporation shall be constructed and maintain- 
ed, as provided in this act ; and the amount of said taxes paid to each State 
shall be in the same proportion to the whole amount as the length of said 
railroad constructed and maintained in each State shall bear to the collective 
length of said railroad in both States ; and the proportion of said taxes to be 
paid to this State shall be due and payable, and shall be paid to the trea- 
surer of the State by said corporation, at the time any such dividends shall 
be so declared, and shall be due and payable by said corporation. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That the consolidated Mobile and North- 
western Railroad Company aforesaid is hereby granted all the rights and 
privileges conferred upon railroad companies organized under the acts to 
provide for the creation and regulation of railroad companies in the State of 
Alabama, approved December 29th, 1868, and the acts amendatory and supple- 
mentary thereto. 

Sec. 5. Be it f urther enacted, That all acts and parts of acts, inconsistent 
with the provisions of this act, be, and the same are, hereby repealed. 

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately. 

Approved February 20, 1871. 


29 




APPENDIX B.— GRANTS. 

An Act to authorize the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council 

of the City of Mobile to issue Bonds in aid of the Mobile and 
North-western Railroad Company. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Alabama, That the 
mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Mobile be and are here- 
by authorized, to issue their bonds to an extent not exceeding one million 
dollars, for the purpose of aiding the construction and equipment of a rail- 
road to be constructed by the Mobile and North-western Railroad Company, 
a corporation created under the laws of said State ; that said bonds shall be 
of such form and denomination, and shall mature at such period, not exceed- 
ing thirty years from the date thereof, and shall bear such rate of interest 
not exceeding eight per centum per annum, as the said mayor and aldermen 
and common council of the city of Mobile may deem proper ; and that for 
the payment of the principal and interest on said bonds, the said mayor, al- 
dermen, and common council of the city of Mobile may pledge the faith ot 
said corporation and the taxes which by their charter they are authorized to 
raise. 

Sec. 2. Be it f urther enacted, That the bonds authorized to be issued 
by the said mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Mobile by the 
first section of this act, may be applied by said corporation to the purchase 
of shares of the capital stock of the said Mobile and North-western Railroad 
Company, or the said corporation may lend said bonds to said railroad com- 
pany, or may make any other contract with said railroad company, giving the 
use of said bonds to the same, for any purpose deemed proper by said corpo- 
ration in furtherance of the construction of the railroad, equipment, and 
works of the said railroad company. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That all acts, and parts of acts, in conflict 
with this act, are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately. 

Approved March 8, 1871. 


An Ordinance of Mobile City granting Aid. 

Whereas, A duly incorporated company, composed of many of the citi- 
zens and business men of the city of Mobile, has been organized under the 
laws of the State of Alabama and of the State of Mississippi, and which com- 
pany is known as the Mobile and North-western Railroad Company, having 
for Its object the construction, equipment, and operating of a line of railway 
from the city of Mobile, in a north-westerly direction, to a point on the Mis- 
sissippi River opposite the city of Helena, Arkansas ; and 

Whereas, The said line of railway will pass through and open to trade with 
the city of Mobile a vast territory of rich country, which is now entirely tri- 
butary to other points, but which, if diverted to Mobile, would be of great an- 
nual Value to the city, largely increasing its trade and commerce, and hence 
the value of property in the city ; and 

Whereas, The bona-fide subscriptions to the capital stock of the said rail- 
road company now aggregate more than a half a million dollars, divided 
among some hundreds of the most solvent citizens of Mobile ; and 

Whereas, The Board of Trade of the city has unanimously memorialized, 
and several hundreds of the principal property-owners and tax-payers have 
petitioned the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council to extend aid to the 
said railroad company to the extent of one million dollars ; and 

Whereas, The Legislature of the State of Alabama, by act approved March 
8tli, 1871, has authorized the issue of the bonds of the city of Mobile in aid 
of the said railroad company to the extent of one million of dollars ; now, 
therefore, 


30 


Section 1 . Be it ordained by the Mayor , Aldermen , and Common Council 
of the city of Mobile, That for the purpose of aiding the said the Mobile and 
North-western Railroad Company in the construction and equipment ot their 
proposed line of railway, the mayor of the city of Mobile is hereby authorized 
and directed to enter into a contract, in due form, with said railroad com- 
pany, with stipulations as follows : That one thousand bonds of the city of 
Mobile, for one thousand dollars each, made payable to bearer, having thirty 
years to run, and bearing interest at the rate of eight per centum per annum, 
payable semi-annually, shall be lent and delivered to the said railroad com- 
pany, to be used and the proceeds applied by said company to the construc- 
tion and equipment of said railroad, its branches, depots, and appurtenances; 
provided, that in lieu of not more than five hundred of the bonds above de- 
signated, there may be issued, at the election of the said company, bonds to 
an equivalent amount, of denominations less than one thousand dollars, but 
not less than fifty dollars, and payable not less than ten nor more than thirty 
years from date thereof. That coupons for interest shall be attached to said 
bonds, which shall be payable semi-annually, at a designated agency in New- 
York, or London, England, at the election of the company, and at the Bank 
of Mobile. That said bonds shall be sealed with the seal of the city, signed 
by the mayor, and drawn in proper form, as the mayor shall be advised, and 
as such bonds are usually framed, and the issue thereof duly registered and 
recorded in the city records ; and the coupons shall be signed by the trea- 
surer of the city, but such signature may be a facsimile engraving. That 
the said bonds, with coupons, shall be delivered to said company as herein- 
after provided, as follows : Bonds to the amount of three hundred thousand 
dollars as soon as they can be prepared and executed. Bonds to the amount 
of two hundred thousand dollars more, whenever twenty miles of said pro- 
jected railway shall be constructed and in condition to operate. Bonds to 
the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars more, whenever fifty 
miles of said projected railway shall be constructed and ready to operate. 
Bonds to the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars more, when- 
ever one hundred miles of said projected railway shall be constructed and 
ready to operate. That payment of such coupons only shall be made, as ma- 
ture after delivery of the bonds to which they belong, to the company, as 
hereinbefore provided for. That the city shall provide for and pay out of any 
funds in its treasury, such interest due by coupons, as shall be first payable, 
until it shall have paid a sum equal to three years’ interest on said sum of 
one million of dollars ; and if to provide funds for this purpose it shall be 
necessary to levy a special tax, such special tax shall be levied and the pro- 
ceeds of collection under such levy shall be specially set apart and appro- 
priated to the payment of the coupons of said bonds, and shall be used for no 
other purpose ; and in such case, the tax-payer shall receive a separate receipt 
for the amount of such taxes, which the said company shall be bound to re- 
imburse to him by the issue of stock to him when the same shall amount to 
the par value of one or more shares ; after which, the railroad company shall 
pay at maturity all coupons for interest, which it may have received, out of 
its own funds. That the said railroad company shall pay all principal sums 
— which may become due and payable to extinguish the said bonds — out of 
their own moneys, and shall relieve the city from all payments on account 
of said bonds, over and above the amount of the three years’ interest which 
the city agrees to provide for and pay out of its own moneys. That the 
railroad company shall create and provide a sinking fund for the payment 
of said bonds, and for the interest it stipulates to pay, in order to meet said 
payments, and that in the investment of such sinking funds preference shall 
be given to investments in said bonds herein provided to be issued, if it can 
be done on terms of equal advantage with other investments. That if by 
reason of any default by said railroad company to meet at maturity and pay 
the interest and principal sums undertaken to be met and paid by the com- 
pany, the city should be required to make any such payment, which the 
company stipulates to pay, then the city shall pay the same from any funds in the 
treasury, and a special tax, if necessary, shall be levied to reimburse the same 


31 


to tlie treasury of the city; and in the event of such special tax being levied 
and collected, the tax-payer shall be entitled to a separate receipt for such tax, 
which the company shall be bound to reimburse to him by the issue of the 
preferred stock of the company to him, when such receipts are presented in 
sums of one hundred dollars. 

Sec. 2. And be it further ordained, That to carry out such contract, when 
made, the mayor is authorized and directed to cause to be prepared and ex- 
ecuted in the best style of engraven bond work, as early as practicable, at the 
expense of said company, bonds to the amount of one million of dollars, as 
hereinbefore provided, with coupons as provided, attached, which bonds shall 
be immediately signed by him and duly recorded, as hereinbefore provided, 
and 300 bonds of $1000 each, or a number of less denomination, equal in 
amount to $300,000, shall be delivered to the Mobile and North-western Rail- 
road Company ; and the remaining bonds, amounting in aggregate to $700,000, 
shall then be deposited in the vaults of the Bank of Mobile, or in the vaults 
of any other bank in the city of Mobile should the Bank of Mobile decline to 
receive them ; and the said bonds shall be in the charge of the president of 
the bank in which they are so deposited, for safe keeping and compliance 
with the terms of the contract herein provided for ; and tlie president of such 
bank for the time being is hereby constituted a trustee for both parties, to de- 
liver said bonds and coupons according to the terms of said contract to said 
railroad company, from time to time, as they shall be entitled to receive 
them, and on their executing on each delivery a receipt for the same, with an 
obligation under the seal of the company to apply the said bonds and pro- 
ceeds of the sale thereof to the construction and equipment of the aforesaid 
proposed line of railway, its branches or buildings, and to no other purpose. 

Sec. 3. And be it further ordained, That the Mayor and the Presidents of 
the two Boards of the city of Mobile are hereby constituted a Board of Com- 
missioners, whose duty it shall be to examine the said railway whenever the 
company shall apply for an installment of bonds, after the first installment, 
as hereinbefore provided, and shall make report to the trustee holding the 
said bonds, whether or not the terms of the contract between the city and 
the said railroad company have been so complied with as to entitle said com- 
pany to the bonds demanded of them ; upon which report being received by 
him, if it be favorable, the said trustee shall deliver said installment of 
bonds to the company. In case of any disagreement between the Company 
and said Board of Commissioners as to the construction of the road, the ques- 
tion shall be referred to two disinterested railroad engineers, whose decision 
shall be final. One of said engineers to be chosen by the company and the 
other by the commissioners. 

Sec. 4. And be it further drclained, That said company shall establish its 
principal office and its terminal freight and passenger depots, machine and 
work shops within the city limits, and shall, after three years from the issue 
by the city of the first installment of bonds, pay tax thereon, the same as in- 
dividuals pay. 

Approved June 17, 1871. 

11 M. HORST, Mayor. 

Attest : B. F. Jackson, City Clerk. 


An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance to aid tiie Construction of 

the Mobile and North-western Railroad, approved June 17, 1871. 

Be it ordained by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the city 
of Mobile, That the bonds of the city authorized to be issued to aid the con- 
struction of the Mobile and North-western Railroad, by ordinance approved, 
June 17th, 1871, may, at the option of the said railroad company, be drawn for 
an amount each, in sterling English money, equivalent to one thousand dol- 
lars United States coin, with the principal and interest payable in sterling 
money in London, England, or that they may be for the sum of one thousand 
dollars each of the coin of the United States, with interest payable in the 


32 


same at tlie city of New-York. And the mayor is hereby authorized and di- 
rected to issue bonds of such purport at request of said company. 

Approved July 13, 1871. 

M. HORST, Mayor. 

Attest : B. F. Jackson, City Clerk. 


LAND GRANT. 

An Act to facilitate the Construction of the Mobile and North- 

Western Railroad. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, 
That the Mobile and North-western Railroad Company, a corporation cre- 
ated heretofore by an act of the Legislature of Mississippi, and having 
for its object the construction, equipment, and operating of a line of rail- 
way from the city of Mobile, Alabama, to a point opposite the city of Helena, 
Arkansas, is hereby authorized and empowered, through its officers or agents, 
to select, locate, and enter any and all lands belonging to the State of Mis- 
sissippi, lying within a distance of twenty miles from the line of said rail- 
way, proposed to be constructed by the said company ; and may purchase, 
become the possessors of, and hold the fee-simple title to the same, upon the 
payment into the treasury of the State of the sum of two cents per acre for 
all lands thus selected and purchased ; provided said lands shall not be re- 
served from other purchasers, and held, subject to the terms of this contract 
and enactment, for a longer period than three years from the date of the 
passage hereof : Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed 
to cover certain lands in Jones County, heretofore purchased from the State 
by bona-fide purchasers, and which purchases have been set aside by decree 
of the Chancery Court. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the governor of the State is hereby em- 
powered and required to issue the patent of the State for the lands selected 
by said railroad company, in accordance with the terms of this act, upon the 
presentation to him of the receipt of the treasurer of the State, certifying that 
the sum of two cents per acre has been paid into the treasury for the lands 
for which patent is claimed : Provided, that the governor shall not be re- 
quired to issue such patents until evidence is presented to him that not less 
than forty miles of the said railway line have been graded and made ready for 
the superstructure. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That to further aid and encourage the con- 
struction of the said railway line, the said company is hereby authorized and 
empowered to purchase and hold any and all lands to which the State may 
become or is entitled under the act granting swamp and overflowed lands 
to this and other States by Congress, approved September 28tli, 1850, and 
acts amendatory and supplemental to the same, and such lands as have not 
heretofore been patented to the State upon the conditions, namely : When 
eighty miles of the said railway line shall be constructed and made ready to 
operate, then the said company, upon payment into the treasury of the State 
of the sum of two cents per acre, shall be entitled to receive a patent for the 
one half of all lands described in this section, and upon the completion, ready 
for operation, of one hundred and sixty miles of said railway, then the 
said company, upon payment into the treasury of the State of the sum of 
two cents per acre for the remainder of all such lands, shall be entitled to a 
fee-simple patent for the same : Provided, that the first eighty miles of said 
railway line shall be constructed, as above provided, within the period of 
three years from the date of this act, at least thirty miles of which shall 
be constructed on the northern end of the same, beginning at a point oppo- 
site Helena, Arkansas, and one hundred and sixty miles of the same shall be 
constructed within five years from the date hereof. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That the governor of the State is hereby 
required to immediately take the necessary steps to secure, at the earli- 


33 


est practicable time, patents from tlie general government for all lands to 
which the State may be entitled under tlie aforesaid act of Congress, and to 
issue patents for the same to the said railroad company, when evidence is 
presented to him that the terms and condition of this act and contract have 
been complied with on the part of said company ; Provided, that sections 3 
and 4 of this act shall not be so construed as to apply to any lands purchased 
in Jackson County by the citizens thereof : Provided, further, that this act 
shall not be so construed as to include any lands held by the State forfeited 
for non-payment of taxes. 

Sec. 5. Be it farther enacted, That all acts and parts of acts in conflict 
with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

Approved May 8, 1871. 

Secretary of State’s Certificate of Quantity of Lands belonging 

to tiie Company. 

Executive Department of Mississippi,! 

Office of Secretary of State, [- 
Jackson, Miss., August 26, 1871.) 

Col. W. D. Mann, Vice-President Mobile and North-wester n Railroad Co. : 

Sir : I have the honor to state, that of the lands known as the swamp or 
overflowed lands, granted to the States by act of Congress of September 28tli, 
1850, which have been heretofore patented to the State of Mississippi, there 
remains unsold and subject to patent to your company, under the act of the 
Legislature approved May 8tli, 1871, the aggregate amount of three hundred 
and fifty-seven thousand six hundred and twenty (357,620) acres. Further, 
that there have been lists certified as correct and subject to patent from the 
United States, furnished this office from the General Land-Office at Wash- 
ington, D. C., amounting in the aggregate to three hundred and eighty-seven 
thousand two hundred and fifty-nine (387,259) acres, for which at this date 
no patent has been received here. No reason is known to exist why the 
United States should not issue patent for this further amount of land. Ap- 
plication has just been made by the executive for patents for these lands, as 
well as for some two hundred thousand (200,000) acres additional, whicli 
were duly selected, and lists furnished to the General Land-Office at Wash- 
ington. All these lands patented, and those to be patented as herein stated, 
if so patented, will be subject to entry and purchase by your company, under 
the act of May 8th, 1871. There are also lands known as “ Internal Im- 
provement Fund Lands,” approximating in amount to twenty-one thousand 
(21,000) acres, which are also subject to entry by your company under pro- 
visions of the said act. 

Very respectfully, James Lynch, Secretary of State. 

Letter from Commissioner of General Land-Office. 

The following letter to the Governor of Mississippi, in reply to his appli- 
cation for patents for lauds due the State, referred to in the letter of the Se- 
cretary of State, shows the correctness of the secretary’s views, and assures 
the early confirmation to the State of the lands in question : 

Department of the Interior, 
General Land-Office, 
Washington, D. C., Sept. 1, 1871. 

Hon. J. L. Alcorn, Governor of Mississippi, Jackson, Miss. : 

Sir : In reply to your letter of 24tli ult., I have to say that, as soon as 
practicable, an examination will be made in reference to lands reported to 
this office as swamp and overflowed lands in the State of Mississippi, and 
patents will be executed and forwarded (where the same has not already been 
done) for all tracts to which the State may appear to be entitled. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Willis Drummond, Commissioner. 


34 


Opinion of Hon. William Yerger, Counsel for the Company, on the 
Question of Title to “ Tax”-Lands. 

Jackson, August 31, 1871. 

Col. W. D. Mann, Vice-President of Mobile and North-western Railroad Co. : 

Dear Sir : At your request, I have examined the act of the Mississippi 
Legislature, approved May 8tli, 1871, entitled “ An act to facilitate the con- 
struction of the Mobile and North-western Railroad.” 

By the first section, the Mobile and North-western Railroad Company is 
authorized and empowered to purchase from the State “ any and all lands 
belonging to the State of Mississippi lying within a distance of twenty miles 
from the line of said railway proposed to be constructed by the company.” 

This purchase is to be made, and a title in fee-simple is to be acquired, by 
paying into the State treasury two cents per acre for the lands, and all the 
State lands within the district above mentioned are reserved from sale to 
other purchasers than the railroad company for the period of three years 
from the date of the passage of the act, the 8tli of May, 1871. There is re- 
served from the operation of this act, by the provisions of the section afore- 
said, “ certain lands in Jones County, heretofore purchased from the State by 
bona-fide purchasers, and which purchases have been set aside by decree of 
the Chancery Court.” 

The second section of the act provides that the governor shall issue to the 
company a patent for the lands so purchased, “ upon the presentation to him 
of the receipt of the treasurer of the State certifying that the sum of two cents 
per acre has been paid into the treasury for the lands for which patent is 
claimed.” But this patent is not to issue until evidence is presented to the 
governor “ that not less than forty miles of the said railway line have been 
graded and made ready for the superstructure.” 

The lands owned by the State were acquired by grant from the United 
States for the purpose of internal improvement, or by “ purchase” at sales 
made for non-payment of taxes due to the State, and by “ forfeiture” to the 
State, under the provisions of the act of 1850 for the non-payment of taxes ; 
and the right of the railroad company to purchase extends, by the provisions 
of the first section, to all lands owned by the State, however title thereto was 
acquired by the State, within the prescribed district, except the lands in Jones 
County before referred to. But the fourth section of the act declares that 
“ this act shall not be so construed as to include any lands held by the State 
forfeited for non-payment of taxes.” 

The question arises under this section, What lands were intended to be 
excluded from the operation of the act. Were they all lands acquired by the 
State through the operation of the tax laws, or only a particular class of such 
lands. It may be remarked that the State acquired title to most of the lands 
within the district mentioned in Section 1 through the operation of the tax 
laws, and if all lands so acquired were excluded, it would materially limit the 
right of purchase by the company, and deprive it of many of the benefits 
which the Legislature evidently intended to confer. 

In order to' understand what the Legislature did intend by the restriction in 
Section 4, it is necessary to recur to the past legislation of the State in refe- 
rence to that legislation. 

By some, and in fact by all, of the tax laws of the State, except the act of 
1850, provision was made that, on the non-payment by the owner of the taxes 
assessed upon his property, it should be the duty of the sheriff, in the event 
he did not have sufficient personal property out of which the taxes could be 
collected by distress, to expose his lands for sale for the unpaid taxes ; and 
at such sale, if no one else would bid the amount of taxes and costs, it was 
made the duty of the sheriff to strike off the same to the State as purchaser 
thereof, and to make a deed to the State for the same, whereby the title of the 
owner of the lands was vested in the State. In this way, the State acquired 
a large quantity of lands by “ purchase” at sales made for non-payment of 
taxes. 

But the act of 1850 provided that, upon the non-payment of taxes assessed 


35 


upon tlie property of a party, at a day fixed in tlie law, the lands of the party 
so failing to pay should he “ forfeited ” without being offered for sale, and 
that the sheriff' should at once convey the same for the amount of taxes re- 
maining due and unpaid to the State. Under this law, the State holds a large 
quantity of land “ forfeited for non-payment of taxes.” This act of the Legis- 
lature by which lands were forfeited ” for non-payment of taxes has been 
declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the State ; and the 
title to the lands acquired by the State under it is therefore not valid. Inas- 
much then as the State holds lands acquired by “ purchase” at tax sales, and 
lands which it acquired by “ forfeiture” for non-payment of taxes, I think tlie 
proper construction of the proviso in the fourth section before referred to 
should restrict the right of the company to purchase those lands only which 
the State held by “ forfeiture” for non-payment of taxes, and not to those 
which it held by purchase at tax sales. An obvious reason for a distinction 
in the two cases will be found in the decision of the Supreme Court before 
referred to. The State vras not a party to that suit ; but the validity of the 
law was passed upon by the court, and the Legislature would therefore be 
unwilling to convey lands where the State did not have a valid title, and 
which, when conveyed to a third party, might lead to embarrassing litiga- 
tion prejudicial to the State. An additional reason for this construction will 
be found in the rule of law which, in doubtful cases, holds the language most 
strongly against the grantor. 

I am not aware that there is any other portion of the act of May 8tli, 1871, 
upon which you wish an expression of my opinion. I have not referred to 
the third section, by which the right to purchase certain other lands was con- 
ferred upon the railway company. That section is very definite, and not 
susceptible of two meanings, and confers upon the company the right to 
purchase all the lands mentioned in that section, upon the terms and condi- 
tions specified therein. Very respectfully, W. Yerger. 

Auditor’s Certificate of “ Tax ” Lands. 

Office of Auditor of Public Accounts,) 
Jackson, Miss., Sept. 1, 1871. f 

I hereby certify that, at the date of my special report of lands held by 
the State for taxes, made to the House of Representatives April 4tli, 1871, 
the State of Mississippi held, by virtue of purchase on account of sales for 
taxes unpaid, tlie amounts of land in the several counties named below, each 
respectively, and aggregating one million forty-eight thousand four hundred 
and fifty acres. 



No. of Acres. 

77.244 



81,458 



103,350 



329,193 



95,019 



95,904 



70,252 



21,083 



40,428 



17,403 



3,103 



9,940 



8,437 


None held by the State. 

840 


None held by the State. 




34,070' 


1,048,450 


Aggregate 


36 


State op Mississippi, Set. 

I, Henry Musgrove, Auditor of Public Accounts of tlie State aforesaid, do 
hereby certify that the foregoing statement of lands held by the State at the 
date therein mentioned, is truly and correctly copied from the original on file 
in my office. 



Given under my hand and official seal, at Jackson, this 1st day 
of September, 1871. 

H. Musgrove, Auditor of Public Accounts. 


A Joint Resolution, memorializing Congress on the Subject op Aid, 

by Grant op Lands, to the Mobile and North-western Railroad 

Company. 

Whereas, A company, composed of a large number of the first citizens of 
this State and of the adjoining State of Alabama, has been incorporated under 
the laws of this State and of the State of Alabama, and which company has 
for its object the construction of a line of railway from the city of Mobile, 
near the south-east corner of the State, to the city of Helena, Ark., near the 
north-west corner of the State ; thus diagonally bisecting the entire State, 
and opening to access, and to facilities of market, a vast portion of the very 
richest part of the State, now almost without means of outlet for products or 
inlet for supplies ; and 

Whereas, The said company is now making vigorous efforts to prosecute 
to early completion their contemplated line of railway, and to that end have 
secured bona-fide subscriptions to the capital stock of the company to the ex- 
tent of more than a half-million dollars from individual citizens of the city 
of Mobile ; and 

Whereas, A large portion of the contemplated line of railway will be very 
expensive in construction ; and 

Whereas, That division of the line lying between the city of Mobile and 
the Vicksburg and Meridian Railroad will form an important link in the 
great South-Pacific route, enabling the traffic of that route to reach tide- 
water to the East at shorter distance and more advantageously than it can 
by any other line, thus making this railway of national importance as a legi- 
timate part of the newly-inaugurated trans-continental route ; and 

Whereas, This division of the line extends through immense tracts of lands 
belonging to the general government, which lands are now of little or no 
value, and must remain so until a railway is constructed opening that section 
to settlement and a market ; and 

Whereas, It was the former pleasure of Congress to grant lands in aid of a 
line of railway nearly parallel with the projected route of the Mobile and 
North-western Railroad, and designed to develop, though to a lesser degree, 
the same territory, of which grant the company were unable to avail them- 
selves, and the lands have reverted to the general government ; now, there- 
fore. 

Section 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, That 
we respectfully memorialize the Congress of the United States to grant a 
liberal donation of the public lands, say to the extent of the alternate sections 
lying on either side of the railway line, to the distance of 15 miles, upon such 
terms and conditions as by them shall be deemed proper to aid in the con- 
struction and equipment of the proposed Mobile and North-western Railroad. 

Sec. 2. Be it further resolved, That our senators in Congress be instructed, 
and our representatives requested, to use tlieir best efforts to secure such 
grant of lands in aid of the said railroad. 

Sec. 3. Be it further resolved, That the governor shall transmit a copy of 
this preamble and thes resolutions to the President of the United States, to 


37 


■ P re81 dent of tlie Senate, and tlie Speaker of tlie House of Representatives 
in Congress, and to each senator and member from this State. 

Approved April 6, 1871. 

Preamble and Resolutions adopted by the Mobile Board of Trade 

April 4, 1871. 

Whereas, Tlie Legislature of Mississippi has passed, and the governor has 
approved, a memorial to Congress urging an appropriation of public lands 
in aid of the Mobile and North-western Railroad ; and 

Whereas, We, as a body, feel the intense importance to the future of this 
city of the early completion of this railroad ; and 

Whereas, It is confidently believed that the city of Mobile, as a corporation, 
will grant aid to the railroad to the extent of one million dollars ; now, 
therefore, 

1. Be it resolved, That we earnestly indorse the memorial of the Legislature 
of Mississippi, and adopt it as a memorial from this body to the Congress of 
the United States. 

2. Resolved, That this board respectfully but urgently request the senators 
and representatives in Congress from this State to use their best efforts to 
secure the grant of public land asked in the memorial ; and thus second the 
vigorous efforts our people are making to build up this city, and to enhance 
the wealth and prosperity k of this State by the construction of this great 
railroad. 

3. Resolved, That copies of this preamble and these resolutions, and of the 

memorial referred to, be sent, properly certified by the President and Secre- 
tary of the Board of Trade, to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and to each senator and member of Congress from 
this State. Price Williams, 

President Mobile Board of Trade. 

Attest : C. FoRSYTn, Secretary. 

Act of the Legislature of Mississippi under which the Mobile 
and North-western Railroad Company will receive $4000 Cash 
Bonus per Mile for entire Length of Road, Branches, and 
Sidings. 

An Act to encourage Internal Improvements in the State of Mis- 
sissippi. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, 
That the State hereby grants and appropriates out of any money in the State 
treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to any railroad company that has been 
or may be chartered by the State of Mississippi, which company has not con- 
structed any portion of its contemplated line of railroad at tlie passage of 
this act, but which shall hereafter construct in first-class manner, with iron rails 
of not less than fifty-six (56) pounds weight per yard, twenty-five miles of its 
projected line within the State, on or before the first day of September, 1872, 
and shall construct the remaining portion of said projected line, its sidings 
and branches, or any part thereof, on or before the first day of September, 
1875, in the manner as hereinafter provided, the sum of four thousand dollars 
per mile for each and every mile of its projected line, sidings, and branches, 
constructed in the manner and within the time hereinbefore provided. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the governor of the State is hereby 
authorized and required to appoint three commissioners, forming a State 
Board of Railway Commissioners, who shall serve until their successors are 
appointed, and whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the governor, 
to examine into and report upon the character and condition of all railroads 
availing themselves of the privileges and benefits of this act. Said commis- 
sioners shall receive a compensation of eight dollars a day each while actu- 
ally employed in the performance of their duties, and twenty cents per mile 
for the distance traveled in performing said duty, which compensation shall 


38 


be paid by tlie railroad company in behalf of which the services are render- 
ed ; and before entering upon the duties of their office, they shall take an 
oath, before an officer authorized to administer the same, that they will faith- 
fully discharge the duties and trust committed to them. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That whenever any railroad company shall no- 
tify the governor of the State that they have constructed twenty-five or more 
miles of their line, ready for operating, in compliance with the provisions of 
this act, the governor shall forthwith direct said railroad commissioners to 
examine said line of constructed railroad, and take such evidence as they 
may deem necessary, in respect to distance and time of completion, and report 
to him without delay the facts and conditions thereof. And if said board, or 
a majority of them, shall report to the governor that the said railroad com- 
pany has constructed a certain portion of their road under and in full com- 
pliance with the terms and conditions contained in the preceding sections of 
this act, then in such cases the governor shall notify the auditor of the State 
to that effect, and thereupon the said auditor is hereby empowered and re- 
quired to issue to the said railroad company his warrant upon the treasurer 
of the State for an amount equal to four thousand dollars per mile for the 
whole length of road constructed as reported by said commissioners. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That whenever any railroad company, 
which shall have constructed twenty-five or more miles prior to the first day 
of September, 1872, and under and in compliance with the provisions of this 
act, shall from time to time, as the work progresses, notify the governor of 
the State that they have constructed any additional portion or portions of 
their road, sidings, or branches, in section or sections not less than ten miles 
in length, and prior to September 1st, 1875, in addition to the length of road 
constructed prior to September 1st, 1872, then, and in each case, the governor 
shall forthwith direct the said railroad commissioners to examine such por- 
tions or sections of road embraced in said notices, and report the condition of 
the same in the same manner and form as provided in section three of this 
act, in relation to the construction, examination, and approval of the first 
twenty-five or more miles ; and in each and every case, when the said com- 
missioners, or a majority of them, shall report to the governor that said por- 
tion or portions of road have been constructed in full compliance with the 
provisions of this act, the governor shall notify the auditor of this State to 
that effect, and thereupon said auditor is hereby empowered and required in 
each and every case to issue to the said railroad company his warrant upon 
the treasurer of this State for an amount equal to four thousand dollars per 
mile for the whole length of road constructed, as reported by said commis- 
sioners. 

Sec. 5. Be it f u rther enacted, That the treasurer of the State shall make 
payments of the warrants, drawn by the auditor in compliance with this act, 
out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise especially appropriated, and 
a sufficient sum of money to meet the requirements of this act is hereby ap- 
propriated and set apart from the accruing revenues of the State. 

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That all railroad companies availing them- 
selves of the provisions and benefits of this act shall annually make pay- 
ment into the State treasury of a specific tax, as follows : “ For every pas- 
senger transported on this line a distance of fifty miles within the State of 
Mississippi, and not exceeding one hundred miles, the sum of five cents ; for 
every passenger transported a distance of one hundred miles, and not exceed- 
ing one hundred and fifty miles, the sum of ten cents ; for every passenger 
transported a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, and not exceeding two 
hundred and fifty miles, the sum of twenty-five cents ; and for every passen- 
ger transported a distance exceeding two hundred and fifty miles, the sum 
of fifty cents, the full amount of all of which taxes shall be paid for the 
period of ten years from the date of the passage of this act, and shall be 
applied solely to the augmenting of the permanent school fund of the State.” 

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect and be in force 
from and after its passage. 

Approved May 13, 1871. 


39 


APPENDIX C.— MOBILE FINANCES. 

Report of a Special Committee of the Aldermen and Common 
Council of the City of Mobile on the Ordinance granting one 

Million of Dollars sterling, or Gold eight per cent thirty- 

year Bonds, of the City, in Aid of the Mobile and North- 
western Railroad Company. 

To the Boards of Aldermen and Common Council : 

The undersigned members of the joint committee on the proposed ordinance 
to aid in tlie construction of the Mobile and North-western Railroad submit 
the following as tlieir report : 

The projected railroad lias been under discussion in this city for the past 
year. Several public meetings to consider it have been numerously attended 
by the capitalists and property-holders of the city, by whom it has been cor- 
dially recommended. It is earnestly supported by the Board of Trade. It has 
received large subscriptions to its capital stock, and has met with a singularly 
hearty and almost unanimous support from all classes of our citizens. The 
petition now before us is the largest in number and wealth of its signers ever 
presented to the city corporation. The Board of Trade unanimously recom- 
mend the adoption of the ordinance, and the people eagerly press it upon our 
favorable consideration. 

The road will open up extensive and wholly new fields fdr the enterprise 
of our merchants. It will traverse a very large and most extraordinarily rich 
section of cotton lands. It will secure a shorter connection with St. Louis and 
the North-west. It will place us in direct connection with the whole system 
of trans-Mississippi railways extending through the States of Arkansas, 
Northern Texas, Missouri, and Kansas. The road will also constitute a branch 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

Our city is the nearest and most convenient seaport to all that vast North- 
western country, and we have but to place ourselves in direct communication 
with it to reap vast results. 

The eyes of our merchants are already turned in that direction. To-day we 
have begun to supply that great region with West-India and South- American 
products. With our railroad connections in that direction complete, our har- 
bor cleared of obstructions, he would be a bold man who could presume now 
to prescribe limits to the extent of the trade and commerce which, with energy 
and foresight, must fall to our share. The public mind, almost universally, 
has reached this conclusion, and there is a settled conviction that this road is 
a necessity— that the failure to press it forward to a speedy conclusion would 
be a public calamity. In this view the undersigned members of your com- 
mittee heartily concur. 

Your committee were directed, by joint resolution, to inquire whether the 
aid asked for could be extended without exceeding the limit of taxation (two 
per cent) prescribed by the constitution. 

The undersigned have given a fair and full consideration to this subject. 
They have called for and examined carefully the estimates for carrying on the 
city government, and for providing for all the obligations already incurred 
and now proposed, and the result attained by them is as follows : 

That the current year is provided for under the If per cent levy ; that all 
the floating debt of the city has been paid off, and there still remains in tlie 
treasury $170,000 of the bonds lately authorized. Of the amount, $170,000, 
on hand, $100,000 may be applied to meet and provide for maturing bonds ot 

^We* would recommend this disposition of the bonds remaining unsold and 
not otherwise needed. This will relieve the treasury of considerable pay- 
ments annually, on account of maturing bonds. 

Your committee find that there is in the treasury a cash balance ot over 
$80,000. The debt which the city has now outstanding is comprised as fol- 
lows : 


40 


Funded debt A, B, and C, at 5 per cent interest $574,000 

Annual interest required $28,700 

Funded debt D, E, and F, at 8 per cent interest 252,800 

Annual interest required 20,184 

Aid Mobile and G. N. R. R., at 8 per cent interest. 352,000 

Annual interest required 28,160 

Aid Grand Trunk Railroad at 8 per cent interest 500,000 

Annual interest required 40,000 

Wharf Bonds, at 8 per cent 360,000 

Annual interest required 28,800 

Funded debt 1871, at 8 per cent 230,000 

Annual interest required 18,400 


Total debt $2,268,300 

Total annual interest $164,244 


As stated before, your committee find the current needs of the city for this 
year provided for. In future years there must be provided the interest on the 
outstanding debt and the current expenses of the city government. The an- 
nual interest is, all included, $164,244. 

To which must be added current expenses, which were estimated for this 
year at $297,800. It is expected that reductions from estimates may be made 
in future years ; but whether the estimate be much reduced or not, your com- 
mittee can see no reason for the estimate being exceeded for many years to 
come, and hence take it as a basis of calculation. 


There must then be provided, annually hereafter, interest $164,244 

Current expenses 297,800 


$462,044 

To meet this, the city is authorized to levy an annual tax of 2 per cent. 
Our present taxable valuation is $20,376,916, and your committee can not 
doubt but that this will be at least maintained hereafter under the impetus 
of the great works of internal improvement now inaugurated here. Taking 
this as the taxable basis, 2 per cent will produce annually $407,538. 

It must be borne in mind that while the particular levy of any one year is 
rarely or never entirely collected in that year, yet the collections are ordina- 
rily from year to year the same, and what is short any one year of the cur- 
rent assessment, is made up from back taxes of years previous. Your com- 
mittee find the correctness of the estimate from licenses and fees confirmed, 
and are assured that at least that amount, $100,656, may be relied upon, or 
may be exceeded with increased business here in future years. 

This added to the general tax, and we have an annual income of $508,194, 
to which must be added $1856 interest on county bond held by the city, giv- 
ing a total income of $510,050, or $48,006 in excess of amount annually 
required to pay current city expenses on a full estimate, and all interest accru- 
ing on bonds now out. 

In the interest estimate is included interest on the wharf bonds, which your 
committee think should be met by income from that property.* If this be 
done, the net annual excess of revenue over disbursements will be increased 
by $28,800, making a net surplus of $76,806 annually. 

It is confidently believed that the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad Com- 
pany will next year pay interest on the preferred stock held by the city, 
which would augment our revenues and increase this net surplus ; but no 
account is now made of this, nor is there any account taken of the increase 


* Since the date of this report, an ordinance has been passed and become a law providing 
for a system of dockage and wharfage amply large enough to meet the interest on these 
“ Wharf Bonds,” and to provide a sinking fund to pay the principal at maturity, besides 
keeping wharves in repair. 


of wealth, population, and basis of taxation to follow immediately the pro- 
gress of these works which the city has heretofore so wisely fostered. 

There is yet to he issued $1,000,000 of bonds to the Grand Trunk Railroad, 
and this covers the entirety of our liabilities. How soon these will all be is- 
sued depends upon rapidity of construction of the road. Our contract pro- 
vides, however, that we shall pay the amount of three years’ interest upon 
those bonds. On the million, it will amount to $240,000, which will certain- 
ly be extended over the next five or six years. Now we are assured of a clear 
annual surplus, even on basis of present values, of $76,806, which, in six 
years, would aggregate $460,836, or nearly double the entire amount of inter- 
est, additional to that provided for in the foregoing calculations, which we are 
under contract to pay on account of the Grand Trunk Railroad, and enough 
to meet fully the entire interest on the aid asked by the Mobile and North- 
western Railroad Company. Your committee therefore finding that, even on 
present values, and not considering the added wealth,’ population, and busi- 
ness prosperity which all may confidently look for if these railroads are built, 
and these work-shops located here, and which must produce an increased in- 
come to the city, there will be a sufficient surplus arising from 2 per cent tax 
to fully provide for the interest on the bonds asked for by the Mobile and 
North-western Railroad Company, and petitioned for by the representatives of 
so large a majority of the property-holders of the city ; and believing that 
this enterprise in the importance of its promised results to the great future of 
our city demands at our hands a liberal encouragement, do recommend that 
the aid asked by said company be granted. 

It is highly important that the aid should be extended at once. The State 
of Mississippi has granted the road a bonus of $4000 per mile for the whole 
length of road, upon condition that twenty-five miles of road in that State be 
completed by the first of September, 1872. This practically requires about 
fifty-five to sixty miles of road to be completed from this place by that date, 
and great energy and promptitude of action is necessary to secure that aid. 
The company have also county aid pledged to them to the extent of $3,000,000, 
equal to $8000 a mile. The aid by this ordinance is equivalent in its credit 
to about $3000 per mile, making in all aid to the amount of $15,000 per mile, 
besides large subscriptions of money and lands by individuals in Mississippi, 
and a land-grant by that State, estimated at nearly a million of acres. 

Our ordinance does not authorize the delivery of the bonds but as the road 
advances, and one hundred miles out from Mobile must be built before the 
last $250,000 of bonds can be called for. 

The undersigned report back the ordinance with the following amend- 
ments, which have been inserted in the appropriate places : 

1. That the tax-payer shall receive scrip for stock to the amount of his tax 
paid. 

2. That in case the company do not pay principal and interest after three 
years, then the tax- payers shall have preferred stock to the amount of tax 
paid. 

3. That the principal office, freight and passenger depots, and work-shops 
shall be within the city limits. 

James Bond, 

O. B. Fish, 

James McDonnell, 

W. T. Marshall. 


42 


Statement of City Auditor. 

The following correspondence explains itself, and will be read with interest 
by every one, as it has official authority : 

Office Mobile and Nortii-western R. R. Co., ) 
Mobile, Ala., June 8, 1871. ) 

W. E. Jennings, Esq., City Auditor : 

Several publications with various and widely different figures, each pur- 
porting to represent the true financial condition of the city, as regards its abi- 
lity to grant the aid asked for by the Mobile and North-western Railroad Com- 
pany, have appeared in the city papers. With the view of giving the public 
a correct idea of how the matter stands, I have to request that you will fur- 
nish me with a complete and carefully prepared statement of the liabilities and 
estimated receipts and expenditures of the city for 1872, and subsequent two 
or three years, during which this railroad interest would have to be paid. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, Thomas Henry, 

President Mobile and North-western Railroad Company. 


Auditor’s Office, ) 
Mobile, June 9, 1871. f 

Thomas Henry, Esq., President Mobile and North-western Railroad Com- 

pany : 

In compliance with your request, I take pleasure in handing you, herewith, 
a statement of the liabilities of the city for the year 1872 ; and my estimate of 
the current expenses and probable amount of revenue for the same year. 

You will perceive, by my statement of indebtedness, that I have assumed 
that prior to the 1st of January, 1873, $1,000,000 of the bonds will have 
been delivered to the Mobile and Alabama Grand Trunk Railroad Company, 
and the coupons on that amount will be due. If, however, the amount 
should only be $750,000, the amount of coupons to be paid on that account 
will be reduced $10,000. The coupons on “ wharf bonds ” are also included 
in the statement ; and should the corporate authorities adopt a system by 
which the property will be self-sustaining, there will be a further reduction 
of $28,800, showing $38,800 less to be paid from the current receipts of the 
treasury. 

In estimating the “ current expenses,” I have been sufficiently liberal to re- 
quire but a moderate degree of economy in the administration of our city 
affairs, and the estimates are capable of being reduced $10,000 to $15,000. 

Very little legislation is necessary on the part of the authorities to realize 
fully the estimates I have made of receipts from miscellaneous sources, and 
may increase it fully $10,000. 

It is expected that the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad Company will 
pay interest on the preferred stock held by the city, ($536,000.) I have 
placed it at 6 per cent. Should it pay 8 per cent, that item will be increased 
$10,720. 

The assessment of taxable property for 1871 was $20,376,916. I am fully 
satisfied, and I also have the assurance of the City Assessor, that for 1872 he 
can reach $25,000,000 with less trouble than he had in 1871. I have assumed 
$23,000,000 ; should it reach $25,000,000, thatdtem will be increased $40,000. 

In making the estimates, I have endeavored to use the maximum for ex- 
penses, and the minimum for revenue, and the former can and may be 
reduced $20,000 to $40,000, and the latter increased $30,000 to $60,000. 

In the figures I have made, I do not pretend to accuracy, as you are well 
aware that would be impossible to attain. I only profess to approximate 
“ near enough for all practical purposes,” and am fully satisfied that nothing 
short of extravagance, which we can not presume, can reduce my estimate 
margin below $75,000 to $100,000, and that a rigid and strict system of eco- 
nomy may increase it to $150,000 or $190,000, which will be ample to pay the 
interest on $1,500,000 or $2,000,000 of additional bonds. 


43 


In relation to subsequent years, it requires more proplietic skill than I can 
pretend to, to enable me to express an opinion in relation thereto. 

I have witnessed the “ ups and downs ” of Mobile for more than forty years, 
and am constrained to say that in all that time I have never known the 
“ ouf-look ” for the future of our city more promising than at present. 

An impetus is pervading our entire community; the despondency and 
gloom which paralyzed the efforts of our people have been dispelled ; they are 
rising in their might ; and who can predict the result of the efforts of a 
powerful people, or measure the strength of a giant ? 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully and truly, yours, 

W. E. Jennings, Auditor. 


STATEMENT OF THE INDEBTEDNESS OF THE CITY OF MOBILE FOB THE 

YEAR 1872. 


Bonds account, funded debt A, B, C, due 1st July $16,800 00 

Coupons on same, 1st July 13,932 50 

Coupons on same, 1st January, 1873 13,512 50 

$44,243 

Bonds account, funded debt, D, E, F, due 1st July $8,200 00 

Coupons on same, 1st July 10,103 00 

Coupons on same, 1st January, 1873 9,780 00 


Bonds account, Mobile and Great Northern Railroad, 

due 1st January, 1873 $16,000 00 

Coupons on same, 1st July 13,760 00 

Coupons on same, 1st January, 1873 13,440 00 


Coupons on bonds account. Grand Trunk Railroad, on 

$750,000, due 1st July $30,000 00 

On $1,000,000 due 1st January, 1871 40,000 00 

70,000 

Coupons on wharf bonds, due 1st May $14,400 00 

Coupons on same, due 1st November 14,400 00 

28,800 

Coupons on bonds of funded debt, of 1871, due 1st July.$16,000 00 

Coupons on same, due January 1st, 1873 16,000 00 

32,000 


Total amount bonds and coupons, 
Mobile, June 9, 1871. 


$246,333 

W. E. Jennings, Auditor. 


ESTIMATE OF THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE TO BE DERIVED BY THE CITY OF 

MOBILE IN THE YEAR 1872. 


From rent of public property and markets $40,000 

From fees for licenses 75,000 

From fees of offices 1,500 

From police fines 10,000 

From interest on County Bond 1,856 

From interest on stock in Mobile and Montgomery Railroad, $536,000, 

at 6 per cent 32,160 

From taxes for 1872, assessment of $23,000,000 at 2 per cent 460,000 


Total revenue 


$620,516 


ESTIMATE OF CURRENT EXPENSES OF THE CITY OF MOBILE FOR 1872. 


City officers $26,000 

Police Department 84,000 


44 


Street Department $30,000 

Fire Department 35,000 

City Hospital 30,000 

Public lamps 12,000 

Public grounds and property 4,000 

Commissions 10,000 


Amount of bonds and coupons 
Surplus or margin. 

Mobile, June 9, 1871. 


$261,000 

24C,333 507,333 

$113,183 

W. E. Jennings, Auditor. 


APPENDIX D. 

Report of Gen. A. A. Humphreys, Chief-Engineer, U. S. Army, on the 

Yazoo Delta or Mississippi Bottom, through the entire Length 

OF WHICH, NEAR THE MIDDLE, THE MOBILE AND NORTH WESTERN 

Railroad will run. (See Map.) 

Tliis report is extracted from tlie elaborate work of Messrs. Humphreys and 
Abbott, U. S. Corps Topographical Engineers, who made an extended survey 
of the entire Mississippi River and valley. 

YAZOO BASIN. 

The Yazoo basin consists of the Yazoo bottom and its water-shed. . . Its 

total area is 13,850 square miles. 

The Yazoo bottom is a tract of alluvial land of an oval shape, bordering on 
the Mississippi between Memphis and Vicksburg, and constituting the west- 
ern portion of the basin 

Mr. L. Harper, the State Geologist of Mississippi, estimates the area of the 
Yazoo bottom in Mississippi at 7092 square miles 

This region is not entirely alluvial. The operations of this survey, to- 
gether with reliable information communicated by persons residing in the 
bottom-lands, show that it is traversed by a line of high lands some two to 
six miles in width, which are very rarely, if ever, overflowed. They extend 
from Honey Island to Delta, on the Mississippi, separating the Yazoo and 
Tallahatchie rivers from the Sunflower. The soil is different from that of 
the rest of the bottom, and the ridge is believed, for many reasons, to be the 
true prolongation of Cowley’s Ridge, which has heretofore been supposed to 
terminate at Helena. The area of this belt of high land, as nearly as it can 
be estimated, is about 310 square miles. 

The entire basin, therefore, consists of 


Bottom-lands, liable to be submerged 6,800 square miles. 

Ridges in bottom-lands 310 “ “ 

Lands draining into bottom . 6,740 “ “ 

Total basin of Yazoo River 13,850 “ “ 


TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BOTTOM-LANDS. 

In its general features, this region is a vast, densely timbered plain, sloping 
from the Mississippi River toward the east, at a mean rate of about 0.4 of a 
foot per mile, according to the levels run by Mr. Pattison’s party near its 
middle parallel, and sloping from north to south at a mean rate of about 0.6 
of a foot per mile, as deduced from the fall of the Mississippi between Mem- 
phis and Vicksburg. 




45 


The natural system of drainage of tliis region is very favorable to its pro- 
tection against overflow, and to the conversion of the swamp lands into culti- 
vable ground. Parallel to the tertiary hills which form the eastern border of 
the bottom, and but a few miles distant from them, is found the main stream. 
It is known successively as the Coldwater River, as the Tallahatchie River, 
and finally as the Yazoo River, and is a fine navigable stream. It receives 
many tributaries from the hills, the principal being the Coldwater, the Tal- 
lahatchie, the Yock-na-pa-ta fa, and the Yalabusha. Until very recently 
(1852?) it was connected with the Mississippi by the Yazoo Pass, a large 
bayou, which left the river about ten miles below Helena ; but a levee is now 
built across this inlet. While the Yazoo flows nearly south, it receives com- 
paratively little of the drainage of the swamp lands west of it ; but when it 
bends toward the Mississippi, in the lower part of its course, its volume is 
soon augmented by the contribution of a system of large swamp-drains or 
bayous. The principal of these are the Sunflower River, Deer Creek, and 
Steele’s Bayou ; but there are many others, which, under different names, 
connect the various cypress swamps and winter lakes of the interior. These 
channels, with the single exception of McKinney’s Bayou, which empties 
into the Mississippi just above Stirling, all drain away from the Mississippi 
to the Yazoo River, with a general southerly course. They were formerly 
annually overflowed by water which left the Mississippi through innumera- 
ble bayous, whose beds varied from fifteen to five feet below the level of the 
natural banks of that river. This water, in annually filling and spreading 
over the banks of the great swamp-drains, deposited its sediment upon them, 
and thus formed a system of high banks or natural levees, extending in a 
general direction from north to south through the swamps. The annual 
supply of sediment-bearing water is now cut off by the Mississippi levees, ex- 
cept in great flood years, but the natural swamp levees remain and serve a 
useful end in restricting the limits of overflow when crevasses do occur. 
(Thus in the April rise of 1858 the high banks of Deer Creek almost entirely 
protected the swamps east of them from Mississippi water.) 

The natural advantages presented by this system of drainage for protecting 
the country from overflow are apparent. The whole region is supplied with 
natural drains having ample slope to carry off its downfall, provided the Mis- 
sissippi water can be excluded. Since none of these drains discharge into the 
Mississippi, they do not prevent a continuous chain of levees upon its banks. 
Lastly, even if a few crevasses do occur, the water poured into the swamps 
is confined by natural levees to comparatively narrow belts of land, and large 
areas are thus left unflooded. 

. GEOLOGY OF TITE BOTTOM-LANDS. 

It is impossible to give detailed information respecting the character of the 
soil, etc., of the greater part of the Yazoo bottom, since the region has been 
very little explored, and what little information has been collected has not 
been published. The route from the hills east of Greenwood, via McNutt 
to Prentiss, on the Mississippi River, has, however, been carefully examined 
by a party of this survey in charge of Mr. H. A. Pattison. Besides running 
transit and level lines across the swamp, this party collected a great deal of 
information concerning it, which forms the basis of this account. The line 
surveyed crossed the bottom near its middle parallel of latitude, and proba- 
bly gives a fair general idea of the whole. 

From the tertiary hills to the Yazoo River, near the route surveyed, the 
surface soil is dark alluvial earth, underlain by a stratum of gravel, similar 
to that of the hills, but less coarse. The roads become so solid after a rain 
that the shoes of the horses hardly make any impression upon them. Be- 
tween Yazoo River and McNutt the character of the soil is identical with that 
just described. From McNutt to Sunflower River, underlying the vegetable 
mould and the alluvion, is a stratum of dark heavy clay, which, when ex- 
posed, is called “ buckshot ” land by the settlers, from its fancied resemblance 
to leaden balls, when it has been baked and cracked by the sun. Strata of 


46 


blue clay frequently crop out in low places. After passing Tompkins’s Bayou, 
the soil contains much lime ; so much, indeed, as to whiten leaves lying upon 
it after a rain. The Sunflower River itself is very strongly impregnated with 
lime. At low water it is of a dark green color, and very transparent. It 
evidently receives its water in part from limestone or mineral springs, the 
latter of which abound on the eastern border of the bottom-lands. From 
Sunflower River to Jones’s Bayou the soil is generally similar to that between 
Sunflower and McNutt, but in some places it begins to resemble more nearly 
the deposit from Mississippi water. Between Jones’s Bayou and the Missis- 
sippi, the surface soil is composed of this deposit. 

The surface soil in Bolivar and Washington counties is reported to be 
black mud, with some calcareous marl. Limestone waters are unquestiona- 
bly found in these counties. 

To ascertain the nature of the sub-soil, inquiries were made respecting the 
strata pierced in digging wells, etc. No great variation was found in diffe- 
rent parts of the swamp. At Greenwood, many wells were examined. For 
2 or 3 feet a dark-colored, alluvial stratum is penetrated ; then a layer of 
heavy red and yellow clay, some 18 or 20 feet thick ; then blue clay, 
from 2 to 4 feet thick ; then coarse gravel, which is water-bearing. 
At McNutt, the upper stratum, some 2 or 3 feet thick, is the ordinary 
surface soil ; next is a stratum of light red sand and clay, some 20 or 
30 feet thick. Frequently strata of blue clay, from 2 to 5 feet thick, 
are encountered 1C or 20 feet below the surface, and at this depth sticks 
and leaves are met with. At Sunflower River, the surface soil is about 
10 feet thick ; then comes a stratum of light red clay, some 6 or 7 feet thick. 
At 32 feet below the surface, a stratum of clear white sand with water is 
found. At Bogue Falaya, wells are not used, and cisterns onty have been 
dug. The soil is light and sandy for some 10 or 20 feet, and then blue mud 
is found. At Bluck’s mill, near the mouth of Yazoo River, a well has been 
dug through a stratum of hard clay containing many sticks and leaves. At 
40 feet below the surface, a layer of quicksand was reached, which rose seve- 
ral feet in the well, and prevented further progress. At Mr. Blake’s planta- 
tion, 10 miles above the mouth of Yazoo River, and bordering upon the hills, 
the strata pierced are surface soil, clay and sand, gravel — often containing 
large trees — and, lastly, blue clay, which, is some 12 or 14 feet below the 
surface. This blue clay underlies all the hills. These hills contain much 
gravel and limestone, and often rest upon strata of sand. Near Lake Wash- 
ington, some 5 miles from the Mississippi, a sycamore-tree, in a state of per- 
fect preservation, is said to have been found at a depth of 40 feet below the 
surface. 

The beds of Yazoo and Sunflower Rivers are both composed of the same 
kind of blue clay as that which forms the bed of the Mississippi, and, what is 
a singular and interesting fact, the bottoms of these three rivers are all upon 
the same absolute level where crossed by the line of the survey. 

The preceding facts seem to warrant the conclusion that the alluvial soil of 
the entire region, which is uv surpassed in fertility, is underlain by a stratum 
of clay, varying from 20 to 40 feet in thickness, and resting upon a stratum 
of gravel or sand. 

GROWTH ON THE BOTTOM-LANDS. 

There are three classes of land in the Yazoo bottom: the “high” land, 
which is rarely overflowed ; the “middle” land, which is overflowed during 
the wet season ; and the low “cypress” swamps, parts of which always con- 
tain water. 

The high land sustains a growth of heavy cane, gum, white-oak, white, 
black, and red hickory, holly, spice wood, dogwood, sassafras, walnut, and 
pecan. 

The middle land is covered with ash, gum, over-cup oak, black-oak, and 
liackberry. , : v 

The low swamps contain cypress, many varieties of water oaks, privets, box- 
elder, liackberry, and swamp-asli. The cypress swamps, which are found in 


47 


all parts of 1 azoo bottom, are from 2 to 10 feet deep at low water. The 
deepest parts, near the middle, are usually without timber. They are un- 
questionably the remains of lakes which have been annually filling up by 
deposit from the Mississippi River. 

The timber between Greenwood and McNutt, on the line of the survey, is 
rather small, owing probably to the stiff nature of the soil. From McNutt to 
Bogue Falaya, the route traverses an almost unbroken canebrake. Oak, hicko- 
ry, and other trees common to the swamp, are scattered through this cane, and 
where the soil is especially rich, the growth is luxuriant, resembling tropical 
vegetation. 

The size of some of the swamp trees is enormous. One cypress log was 
rafted out which was 84 feet long, and 5 feet 4 inches in diameter at the 
smaller end. Another was sawed at Mr. Black’s mill GO feet long and 5 feet 
1 inch in diameter at the smallest place. 

FLOODS IN THE BOTTOM-LANDS. 

Full and exact information relative to overflow was collected on Mr. Patti- 
son’s level and transit survey through the Yazoo bottom. In Appendix F 
will be found a table giving the depth at high water, 1858, at station 1000 
feet apart on this line, which extends entirely across the middle part of the 
region, from the hills to the Mississippi River, a distance of 72.5 miles. East 
of Bogue Falaya, the line was run twice, as a check against errors, and tested 
thoroughly. The mean depth of overflow on this whole route at high water, 
1858, was 2.35 feet. If about 12 miles not overflowed be deducted, the mean 
depth on the remaining part of the line, which, of course, includes all land 
actually submerged, was 3.08 feet. The deepest overflow was between Bogue 
Falaya and Jones’s Bayou, where the mean depth for the 10 miles was 5.5 feet, 
the maximum being 12.5 feet. . . . 

ESTIMATED SECTION OF YAZOO BOTTOM. 


LOCALITY. 

Distance. 

Mean Overflow. 

Greenville to Deer Creek 

10 miles. 

2 feet. 

Deer Creek to Bogue Falaya 

5 

2 “ 

Bogue Falaya to Indian Bayou 

12 “ 

4 “ 

Indian Bayou to Sunflower 

7 

0 “ 

Sunflower to McNutt 

25 “ 

4 “ 


Making a total distance of 59 miles, with a mean overflow for the whole dis- 
tance of 3.01 feet. . . . 

In 1858, the swamps were impassable from rain-water before the Mississippi 
rose. Even on the 1st of January, this was the case on the route between 
Prentiss and McNutt, and ilie survey of the line was for this reason deferred 
until low water. During the spring, the Yazoo and its tributaries were within 
5 feet of extreme high water. There were two distinct overflows in the swamp, 
one in April of very short duration, the other in June and July. The latter 
was much the higher of the two, and covered on July 15tli, as already seen, 
G800 square miles of the swamp to a mean depth of about 3.0 feet. It was 
probably the deepest overflow which occurred since the flood of 1828, although 
not very different from those of 1850 and 1851. 

* * * * * * * 


YAZOO EIYER. 

This river is in many respects a peculiar stream. It flows near the eastern 
part of Yazoo bottom, from its northern to its southern extremity, being known 
as Coldwater River until joined by the Tallahatchie, and then as Tallahat- 
chie River until joined by the Yalabusha. Below the latter junction it as- 




sumes its proper name, Yazoo River. The total length of this stream, from 
its proper source, Horn Lake, to the Mississippi, is about 500 miles. At its 
high stage, it is navigable for steamboats drawing 5 or 6 feet of water, as far 
as Panola, on Tallahatchie River, and as far as Grenada, on Yalabuslia River. 
It is navigable for boats drawing from 2 to 3 feet water as far as Greenwood, 
a distance of 240 miles, at all seasons of the year. Its average high-water 
width below Greenwood is about 850 feet. Its high-water cross-section is, 
near Greenwood, 17,000 square feet, and just below the mouth of Steele’s 
Bayou, 50,000 square feet, the difference being mainly due to the swamp tri- 
butaries. Its range at Greenwood is 36 feet ; at Yazoo City, 35 feet ; and at 
its mouth, 48 feet. Its total fall at high water, from Greenwood to its mouth, 
is shown by the levels of this survey to be about 40 feet, giving a mean slope 
per mile, in this distance, of 0.16 of a foot. Its current is sluggish, rarely ex- 
ceeding 3 miles per hour below Greenwood, even in the swiftest part of the 
stream. . . . 

The floods of the Yazoo River proper, exclusive of the Mississippi water, are 
irregular in the time of their occurrence. There is generally, however, a flood 
in February and March, and often another in the autumn. The river is 
usually low from June to December. 

The Mississippi levees have already effected a great change in the regimen 
of the river. 

Formerly, even as recently as 1850, the Mississippi began to pour into the 
swamp in large quantities when fully 10 feet below high water. This water 
filled up the bottom-lands and passed through the innumerable drains to 
Yazoo River, causing it to discharge uniformly a great volume of water back 
into the Mississippi, even at the top of the highest floods. This fact is establish- 
ed by the direct evidence of many who speak from personal knowledge. It 
was particularly noted in 1828 and 1850, when the velocity of the current in 
Yazoo River is stated by eye-witnesses to have exceeded even that of the Mis- 
sissippi itself. . . . 

At present, as long as the Mississippi levees remain unbroken, the Yazoo is 
backed up so as to become dead-water (sometimes even for 70 miles) during 
rapid rises of the Mississippi. If there happen, however, to be freshets in 
some of its tributaries, the Yazoo may maintain its discharge even in very 
rapid rises of this river, as, for instance, in the December rise of 1857, during 
the whole of which a moderate downward current was observed. Sometimes, 
but very rarely, there is an upward current of Mississippi water, which has 
been known to extend 40 miles up the river. . . . 

INDIAN MOUNDS, ETC. 

Indian mounds are to be found through the entire bottom. They are evi- 
dently artificial, being composed of the ordinary swamp soil, and containing 
bones, articles of pottery, etc. These mounds are especially numerous near 
Sunflower River, as are also Indian burial places. In one locality, the caving 
of the river bank has exposed many human bones and other relics of the for- 
mer occupants of this region. The great age of these mounds may be inferred 
trom the tact that some of the largest trees of the region are now growing 
upon them. On the banks of the Yazoo River many shell mounds exist. 
They are above overflow, and are made of the shells of fresli-water mussels, 
such as are now found in the river. No traditions relative to their origin are 
preserved among the Indian tribes of the present day. Old fortifications are 
also reported to exist in the swamps, but none were examined by the parties 
of this survey. 


